The Conduit War: The Fallen Children
by Ciaus Falkreath
Summary: Sequel to The Spark: After the execution of Delsin Rowe, the country turns to chaos. Conduits and conduit supporters riot in the streets. Once their protests turn violent, the country finds itself declaring war on conduit-kind. Now, Ryan finds himself fighting alongside enemies as well as against friends with the lines redrawn. A new age is upon us. The Conduit War has begun.
1. PROLOGUE

**Prologue**

* * *

_8 Years Ago_

* * *

"Brooke? Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"Why do those people hate us?"

There was a significant pause. Brooke seemed to be in a trance as she stared at the wall.

"Brooke?"

She looked at the young girl who called her name, now broken out of her trance. She saw her messy black hair and scared, tired eyes.

"They don't hate us. They're afraid of us."

"Why?"

"Because we're different. We have powers… and they don't."

"Do they think… _we're _going to hurt _them_?"

"Yes."

"But… I don't want to hurt anybody."

"I know, but sometimes… you have to… to protect the ones you love."

"Have you… hurt people?"

There was another considerable pause.

"Brooke?"

She sighed.

"Yes…"

* * *

_18 months ago_

* * *

"Ryan! You need to see this!"

Ryan looked from the bathroom, a toothbrush in his mouth, and saw Troy on the motel bed with his eyes glued to the screen.

"What is it?" he mumbled, walking over to the screen. On it, a news reporter was talking with a picture of Delsin and Fetch right next to him. The toothbrush fell out of his mouth when he saw the word beneath their pictures.

"Dead? How?"

"They were executed. They're saying Delsin got a new power and almost blew up the city," Troy explained.

"What? But… Delsin would never do that…" he said while wiping away the excess toothpaste.

Troy sighed and threw his head into the palm of one of his hands. Ryan threw open the door to the outdoor balcony and slammed his hands against the railing, using all of strength to keep himself from screaming.

"What do we do?" Troy asked.

"I don't know," he said with a sigh.

"I do."

Ryan immediately turned his head and saw Celia standing in the corner of the balcony.

"Troy… Celia's here…"

"What?" he said out of disbelief, walking over to check himself. Sure enough, he was there next to Ryan, staring at Celia in the moonlight.

"You… you son of a—" Troy began before being cut off by Ryan with his hand.

"Is it true?"

"Yes… it happened three days ago. Delsin absorbed the powers of the Beast and it overtook him. He couldn't control him."

"The Beast?" Ryan repeated.

"I thought Delsin was going to be the one to save us. But he was weak… just like all the others."

"He's more of a conduit than you could ever hope to be."

"I thought the same thing. That's why I came here. I need your help."

"Help? What… the hell… makes you think," he started while walking up to her until he was nearly touching her mask, "that we'd ever help you?"

Celia then took a step back and removed her mask from her face. Ryan was greeted by a face he wasn't expecting. He was expecting red eyes full of rage and hatred, but instead he saw bright blue ones, like calm and soothing oceans. Her skin was pristine when he expected to be scarred or burnt or… something. He had never seen her without her mask, nor when she claimed her name was Alice. He was expecting to see a monster, and instead, a human took its place.

"You think that… by taking off your mask… we'll just do what you say?"

"It's a symbol of trust," Celia explained.

"Right… and you expect us trust you?" Troy challenged.

"I trust _you_."

"Why?" Ryan asked.

"_You_ saw what they were doing and you left when you saw how their leadership was crumbling."

"Yeah, well if we hadn't left we could've helped! We could've saved Delsin and Fetch!"

"Or die with them," Celia countered coldly.

There was a brief pause before Ryan spoke again.

"How did you find us anyway?"

"Do you really think Augustine only had one tracker?"

"Augstine…" Ryan said in a trance, "You killed her."

"Yes I did."

"_She_ trusted you and you stabbed her in the back."

"She _deserved_ to die."

"That's not your place to decide," Ryan stated.

"Look, I didn't come here to discuss ethics with you. I need your help."

"Right… help with killing innocent people? Is that it?"

She turned around and took a few steps forward.

"I thought Delsin was the one… when he absorbed John I thought… I thought he would be strong enough to save us. But I was wrong."

"He was stronger than you can ever _hope_ to be."

"Powers-wise maybe… but he was too naïve. He saw good in everything… even when it wasn't there."

"And what do _you _see?" Ryan asked.

"The truth. I see how the world really is, and the monsters that live in it. And I know you do too."

"You're right. There _are_ monsters out there in the world. But that doesn't mean we need monster hunters." Ryan argued.

"You're implying that humans are monsters…" Celia noted.

"Aren't we all? Don't we all have the same selfish desires?"

"You _do_ see it. You've seen firsthand the injustice that—"

"You don't know what I've seen," Ryan interrupted.

"Try me," she challenged.

"Ryan… if I could uh, say something here," Troy butted in, grabbing his attention, "Maybe… we _should_ go with her."

"What?!"

"Ryan, we're almost out of food, and it won't be long til' we run out of cash. And, frankly, I'm tired of sitting on my ass all day. We can't keep hiding forever."

"Yes we can," Ryan stated while beginning to walk back inside.

"You _know_ what they're capable of! It's only a matter of time until they find you."

Ryan stopped in his tracks and stood there for a few seconds before turning around.

"Let's say we're interested. What would we do?"

"The nation's on edge right now, and when the nation's on edge…"

"They militarize," Troy finished.

"It's not just the US military either. Private contractors from all over are aiding in the war against conduits. If you join me, you can see to it that none of their weapons will be used against our kind."

"Sabotage?" Ryan summed up, "That's your strategy?"

"If we let them strike first, we won't live to regret it."

"She has a point, Ryan," Troy butted in.

Ryan took a moment to think before speaking again.

"Why us? Why not your little gang of misfits you used to attack us?"

"They were weak, only a means to an end."

"Aren't _we_ a means to you too?" Ryan challenged.

"Perhaps… but I'd rather take my chances with you than them," she explained, "Unless of course, you mean to say your stories were made up."

"Stories?" Ryan perked up.

"We may not have spoken face to face, but I've overheard your tales. You managed to travel all the way from Curdun Cay to Empire City; all the while protecting conduits. That's no small feat."

"I did what I had to. It was the right thing."

"Then help _me _do the right thing. Show me The Reaper I've heard so much about."

Ryan hung his head low and sighed.

"What do you say?" she asked with her hand outstretched.

* * *

Author's Note: It's not evident in this chapter, but if you were paying attention you'd see that this story was rated M for mature audiences. Now, I hear you asking: "Ciaus, why should we care? What's so important about this being rated M?" It isn't really, I just wanted you all to be aware that I plan on this story being much more mature compared to The Conduit War Trilogy. I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up before continuing.


	2. CHAPTER 1 - The Second Age

**Chapter 1 - The Second Age**

* * *

9 Years Ago

* * *

"Ryan, c'mon! The call's starting soon!"

"I'm coming!" shouted the young child running down the stairs.

He ran into the kitchen where he saw his father. He had dark skin and not a single hair on top of his head. His shirt clung tightly to his slightly larger than average stomach. He held a tablet in his hand and patted the chair next to him. Ryan ran over and practically jumped into the seat. He looked at the screen and watched as the loading icon spun for what felt like forever. But what it showed when it went away was worth the wait.

"Mom!"

"Hi sweetie! How are you doing?"

"Good!"

Ryan always thought of his mom as an angel. Her skin was lighter than his or his fathers. Her reddish hair was cut extremely short to the point that it didn't even go past her ears. But it wasn't either of those that gave her her angelic presence. It wasn't even her light blue eyes. It was her smile. He had seen it millions of times, when Ryan did really well in school, or when he fell off the swings at the park, she was always there with her smile. No matter what it was, it made him smile too. Today was no different.

"How was school today?"

"Good!" Ryan repeated.

"Just good?" his father questioned, "This little guy got an A on his math test."

"Awesome! C'mon, give me a high five!" she said while holding up her hand to the camera.

Ryan did the same and made a careful high five motion, making sure not to knock the tablet out of his father's hands, causing him to chuckle.

"So… how are things over there?" his father asked.

Ryan hated that phrase; "over there". It reminded him that she wasn't here, and his eyes slowly drifted away from her smile to her military uniform

She sighed and shook her head.

"Drills drills drills. Just busy work, it feels like."

"That boring huh?"

"Yeah… but there's nothing wrong with a bit of boring now and then," she said with another smile.

"When are you coming home?" Ryan asked.

"It's gonna be a few more months I'm afraid," she said with a sigh.

"Not _next_ month?" his father asked.

"My S.O. thinks we're close, and he doesn't want to take any chances."

"That's not fair," Ryan whined.

"I know sweetheart… but this is something that mommy has to do… to make sure you guys are safe."

Ryan lowered his head and sighed.

"Hang in there, honey… I'll be home before you know it."

* * *

Present

* * *

"This is White Rabbit, everyone check in," Celia ordered, speaking through a communicator on her ear.

"Blue Dragon, checking in," Troy called through.

"Red Wolf, checking in," Ryan called through.

It was the dead of night in Old Forge, New York. The typical bustling metropolis commonly associated with New York wasn't seen here; replaced by luscious green wilderness. They got into position and eyed their target. Over the past couple of weeks, they've formulated a plan to break into a relatively new research-and-development firm and sabotage their work.

It had been six months since the death of Delsin Rowe and, in that time, the United States government formally declared war against a unique and small group of people known as conduits. These conduits had the ability to manipulate and weaponize matter. This frightened non-conduits, which led to a war between two kinds. Scanning stations were set up at many public establishments across the country and curfews were slowly being put into place in every city. In the small town of Old Forge, a curfew was easy to establish and enforce. Citizens had one warning to head inside, otherwise… they would be shot onsite.

"A secret weapon project left this building recently and we need to figure out where it's going. Our target is Dr. Percivel Sullivan, located on the third floor, room 216. He's the lead systems engineer here at Edge-Tech. He's also the head for the weapon's development. You two remember the plan?" Celia spoke through the communicator.

"White Rabbit and I will sneak into the building. I'll interrogate Dr. Sullivan regarding the weapon's location while White Rabbit will make sure we aren't disturbed," Ryan recapped.

"Once we have the information we need, I'll bring the place down and destroy what research they have there," Troy added.

"_After_ we leave, right?" Ryan clarified.

"Yeah yeah, of course," Troy said quickly.

Ryan shook his head before looking at Celia's location.

"You ready, White Rabbit?" he asked.

She didn't reply, but instead transformed into paper ribbons that floated towards the building.

"I hate it when she does that," Ryan said to himself before heading towards the building himself. He was wearing what he always did nowadays; black jeans and a red T-shirt with a bandolier resting over it. He also donned heavy hiking boots and a red paper mask constructed by Celia, in the shape of a wolf's head. Troy was given a similar mask in the shape of a traditional chinese dragon in blue. In the field, they never used their real names, in person or over comms, and they always wore their masks. With conduits hunted down and shot onsite, they needed to take every precaution.

Time around Ryan began to slow and he ran out from the woods that hid the three of them. Though he couldn't do it indefinitely, slowing down time allowed him to move much faster than others would perceive, giving the illusion of a teleport; a blink, as Ryan took to calling it.

It only took a few blinks before he got to the back of the building. He looked up to see Celia's paper form traverse through a vent. He then looked at the window that led out from their target's office. Before he had a chance to do anything though, he was stopped by a guard turning the corner.

"Hey!" the guard called out, the shout being more accusatory than aggressive. The guard himself was wearing traditional black riot armor and held a shotgun at his waist. His armor was covered by a vest that held a radio on the left-hand side of his chest. Ryan blinked and reappeared right in front of him, with the radio in one hand and the shotgun in the other. A mixture of shock and fear appeared on his face as he realized what he was dealing with. Ryan threw the radio to the ground and crushed it with his foot. He then shouldered the shotgun, aiming it at the guard.

"Hands up," Ryan whispered.

Complying, the guard put his hands over his hand and Ryan walked up to him, weapon still drawn.

"You're… you're with The Pack," the guard muttered.

Ryan then hit him with the butt of the shotgun in the forehead and the guard fell unconscious.

"Guys hear that? We're famous," Ryan said through the comms.

"If they're familiar with how we work, they'll know to stay away," Celia whispered through her communicator.

"Or prepare for the worst," Ryan added, "Blue Dragon, keep an eye on the building. Let us know of any red flags."

"Roger that."

Ryan then took a second to look at the shotgun in his hand before throwing his arm through the strap and holstering the weapon onto his back. Afterwards, he returned his attention to the window belonging to their target. With a vertical blink, he propelled himself upward and grabbed the bottom ledge of a window on the second floor, temporarily negating the forces of gravity. He never was as coordinated as Delsin when it came to climbing, but Ryan spent the past several months training to scale buildings at the same pace as the conduit messiah. Dr. Sullivan's office window was now one window over and one up from that one.

Breathing in, Ryan hopped horizontally and grabbed onto the adjacent windowsill, all the while, trying to keep his feet above the windows below him and stay hidden. He slowly peeked his head above the windowsill and into the window. When he saw nobody inside, he climbed up and grabbed the top of the windowsill before launching himself upwards and grabbing the bottom of the window above him. He peeked into the window and saw an older gentleman in a pantsuit sitting behind a desk on the phone.

"Red Wolf, this is White Rabbit. I have eyes on the target's office. Please tell me you're in there."

"Going in now, White Rabbit," Ryan called before lifting up the window a few inches upwards. As soon as it opened, Ryan caught wind of the conversation the target was partaking in.

"-gone through testing? It's been through plenty of testing, but the fact of the matter is we can't sell this to some… war-mongering idiot."

Ryan slipped his hand through the crack between the window and the windowsill and clenched his fist.

"I know that but we need… wait what? You can't be serious."

Ryan then opened his fist and a blue orb appeared in the palm of his hand.

"How much?"

Ryan tossed the orb into the room towards the man. It hit him square in the back and expanded outwards. A spherical blue energy field encompassed the man and he dropped his phone. However, the phone fell at a much slower pace. Ryan took this opportunity to casually open the window completely and climb inside. He stood in front of the man and got a good look at him. The hair on the top of his head was showing the beginning signs of graying and his beard was clean-shaven. In a word, he looked professional. He then looked at the phone that was still slowly falling at his side.

Ryan reached into the orb and grabbed the phone, unaffected by the affects of his time bomb. He pulled the phone out of the orb, ended the call, and pocketed the device. The young conduit then looked down at the hand he launched the time bomb from. It was glowing the same shade of blue as the time bomb. He flexed that hand, and the blue mist dissipated along with the time bomb.

The man was released from his temporal prison with his hand still to his ear where his phone was. He then quickly threw up his hands when he saw Ryan in his wolf mask.

"You're… you're the Wolf," he stuttered.

"Get up," he said while pulling out a 9mm from his side-holster.

"Hey, there's no need for this to get violent," the man pleaded while removing himself from behind his desk.

"I agree, now stand out in front of the desk," Ryan ordered, still holding him at gunpoint.

"What… what is this about?" he asked, his voice lacking sincerity.

"Cut the shit. You know damn well what this is about. Where's the weapon?"

The man sighed and looked down.

"Answer me," Ryan ordered, raising his voice slightly.

"It… it's at a secret facility in New Jersey."

"Where?"

"I don't know. I was never given its exact location."

"Bull shit."

The doctor rolled his head in response.

"Where?"

"Hoboken… Hoboken, New Jersey."

"Hoboken?"

"I'm looking it up," Troy stated through the comms, "It's a city in Hudson County, pretty small by the looks of it."

"We need more information," Celia whispered.

"What's at Hoboken? What kind of facility?" Ryan questioned.

Dr. Sullivan looked away from Ryan once again.

"Answer me," Ryan ordered, raising his voice again.

"It's a testing facility."

"What kind of tests?"

"For the weapon… it's still very much a prototype and we've only run simulations."

"Simulations?"

"Well, testing requires… subjects," the doctor said uneasily.

"They're testing it on conduits," Celia inferred.

"So your answer is to test it on living people?"

"Your kind forced us. You go around and… kill innocent people in the streets."

"You're kidding right? Have you actually seen that with your own eyes?" Ryan challenged.

He lowered his head again before sighing.

"It's at an abandoned department store."

"Blue Dragon?" Ryan asked.

"Looking it up."

"He's probably lying," Celia added.

"Well, there _are_ a few closed-down stores in the area... and they seem big enough to house conduits."

"It's not enough," Celia interjected.

"Prove it," Ryan said to the doctor.

"Okay, let me get to my computer and I can show you emails with pictures of the facility."

Ryan gestured for him to move. The doctor slowly made his way behind the computer desk and sat in front of the computer. Ryan followed behind and held the gun to his head as the frightened doctor typed away at the computer. He opened a string of emails and clicked on one that contained an address as well as pictures of both the inside and outside of the building that corresponded with that address. He slowly scrolled through pictures until one of them caught Ryan's eye.

"Wait, stop," he ordered, causing him to stop scrolling and expand the image. To put it simply, it looked like a spherical object, about the size of a basketball. Two ends were cut out and transformed into handles and a large circular hole was cut into the center. The hole itself seemed to cut into the object about halfway and revealed some of the internals. Ryan spent several seconds just staring before speaking again.

"Is… is that the weapon?" Ryan asked.

"Yes," he answered sheepishly.

"You have eyes on the weapon?" Celia asked, her interest piqued.

"Yes, as well as where they're keeping it."

"Uh guys, we have an issue," Troy butted in.

"What is it?" Celia asked.

"The other guards found Wolf's present and they're heading inside."

"Then we leave, we have what we came for. Regroup at the rendezvous point," Celia ordered.

"Roger that, as soon as you see us leave, light em' up Blue Dragon."

"Wait what?" the doctor exclaimed.

"Roger, I'll keep an eye out for you," Troy promised.

"You're going to destroy this building?" the doctor asked, dumbfounded.

Ryan ignored the man as he made his way to the window.

"You'll kill all of us!" he shouted just as Ryan began climbing out the window.

He looked back at the man sitting in the chair, his eyes focused on his terrified expression.

"I'm sorry," he said coldly before jumping out the window.

"No! Wait!" he shouted as Ryan landed into a roll on the ground. Ryan then looked up to see a paper trail flying out of a vent and into the darkened wilderness. With a sharp inhale, Ryan blinked in the same direction.

Seeing both of them exiting the building, Troy knew it was his turn. He emerged from the wooded area with lava-cloaked fists. Summoning all of his strength, Troy created a line of lava in the ground in front of him about ten feet long using streams of molten magma. He then used his powers to amplify the stream by pulling it up six feet in the air, creating a wall. Finally, he pushed the wall forward towards the building. It melted the brick walls and steel supports of the lower levels until, finally, the entire building collapsed, killing everyone inside. Troy took a second to catch his breath, resting his arms on his legs.

Charging his abilities was a rare occurrence for Troy, so every ability cast was tiresome for him. Eventually, his breathing slowed to normal just in time for sirens to emerge from the distance. He too ran into the woods and vanished, the group leaving nothing but the smoldering remains of the research building.


	3. CHAPTER 2 - What it Takes

**Chapter 2 - What it Takes**

* * *

8 Years Ago

* * *

"Anything?" he asked, a worried expression plastered on his face.

"She won't even acknowledge me," she said with a sigh.

He put his hands on her shoulders and stared at the closed bedroom door of their foster daughter.

"What are we doing wrong?" she whispered.

"Just… give her more time okay? Remember what that lady said. She's been through quite a few different families and I'm sure she's a little shaken about that."

"But, it's been weeks and… all she does is sit on the bed and draw. Maybe we made a mistake," she whispered with tears beginning to roll down her cheek.

"Hey hey hey… don't say that," he comforted, "We knew this wasn't going to be easy. But we promised ourselves that we were going to help a child find a home, right?"

She nodded and he wiped the tears from her cheek.

"We just need to be patient, we have plenty of time."

That evening, after school, the three of them gathered around the kitchen table for dinner. They shared a fairly simple meal of chicken, rice, and broccoli. The first few minutes yielded dead silence as the young girl stared meekly at her food.

"So Celia… how was school today?" the foster father asked.

"It was good," she replied, not looking away from her food to speak.

The couple looked at each other for a few seconds, before turning back to face the young child.

"What… did you do today?" he insisted.

"Not much," she replied hastily, focused solely on eating what was on her plate.

He sighed and shook his head before looking down at his own food. He then looked over at his wife who had a look of concern on her face.

"I'm done with my food. I'm gonna' go into my room now," Celia announced, the comment pulling his attention back to her. She then quickly gathered her plate and utensils, walked over to the kitchen to drop them off in the sink, and went into her room, shutting the door behind her. He slouched back into his chair, accepting the loss.

"Maybe we should try to be more proactive with her?" his wife suggested.

"I just don't want to intrude on her. It sounds like she's been through a lot and I don't want to rush her."

Moments later, he was interrupted by the sound of a notification coming from his phone on the table. He picked it up and unlocked it.

"What is it? Work?"

"No, a news story," he answered while scrolling through it, "It's that thing… people are spotting it moving down the coast."

"Well, maybe we should start thinking about moving then."

"Are you kidding? We can't do that to her, she's clearly having a hard enough time adjusting as it is."

"We can't just ignore it," she argued.

"Look, it's probably just some large wildfire. Do you really expect it to be some hundred-foot-tall monster rampaging across the country? If there really was a monster, the government would let us know about it," he countered while taking another bite of his chicken.

"What about the terrorist attack in Empire City?"

"What about it?"

"What if they're related?"

"Honey, you're worrying too much about this. That's what I get for checking my phone at dinner."

She chuckled at the comment, though it did nothing to calm her about the possibly dire situation they could end up in.

"Tell you what… it's the weekend, so let's see if we can find a movie that the three of us can watch tomorrow," he suggested while grabbing his phone again to visit the local theater's website.

"That sounds like fun."

* * *

Present

* * *

"Woo! That was fun!" Troy practically shouted once he finally met up with Ryan and Celia.

"Careful, you shout any louder you may just pass out," Ryan said sarcastically.

"Not to mention get us caught," Celia added.

"Oh relax, we're in the middle of some of the densest woods in New York. It's not like there's anyone who can hear us," he argued, "Can we change now?"

Celia turned around and took a few steps towards a large tree surrounded by bushes and loose weeds at its base. She pushed some of the weeds aside which revealed three identical backpacks. She pulled up two of them and tossed one towards Ryan and the other towards Troy, who both caught them with ease. She then grabbed the third by the handle before looking back at her accomplices. She held out her hand and all three paper masks flew away from each other's faces and into the palm of her open hand, the paper folding up into a more compact shape as it did.

She placed the multi-colored paper into one of the backpack pockets and opened the main pocket. She pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She then walked behind a tree and started changing. The two guys, on the other hand, simply changed in the open. Ryan kept his jeans while placing his shirt, bandolier, and weapons inside the bag. He then slipped on a light grey v-neck with a picture of a skull on the front. Troy did nothing but slip a grey hoodie over his current clothing, static from it disrupting his already-messy blonde hair. They both zipped up their backpacks, with a noticeable bulge from Ryan's backpack edue to the shotgun. As they slung their respective bags over their shoulders, Troy chuckled.

"Is that a shotgun or are you just happy to see me?" he joked.

The comment caused Ryan to chuckle, though more out of courtesy then genuine enjoyment of the joke. Moments later, Celia emerged from the tree she changed behind. She ditched her usual school-like jacket and skirt for a long-sleeved shirt with a cute bunny design on the front, as well as a pair of skinny jeans.

"Alright, shall we?" she asked sternly as she approached them.

"Let's go," Ryan replied.

The three of them proceeded further away from the crime scene and towards an RV park. They approached one and Celia fished a key out of her pant-pocket. She opened the door and the three walked inside. Seeing as it was a class B, it was considerably smaller than an RV used by a typical family. This one had two seats in the front, one driver and one passenger, two twin-sized beds, a sink, a stove, and a mini-fridge. The stove and sink were side-by-side on the other end of the entrance into the RV, while the beds were stationed on either side, closer to the back. In the very back, sat the mini-fridge.

Ryan's first instinct was to drop his backpack by the door and head towards the mini-fridge. However, before he could reach for the handle, Celia spoke.

"Where do we start looking for the weapon?" she inquired.

Ryan stopped for a brief second to think before reaching for the handle and opening the fridge. Inside, a few water bottles were tucked away in the back, as well as a small carton of eggs. However, Ryan reached for what was left of the beer. He grabbed one of the two remaining bottles and closed the door. He turned around and passed Celia who stood by one of the beds.

"Building number 2010," he answered before using the edge of the stove counter to pop the bottle cap off and take a sip. When he finished, he looked back at Celia and was greeted with a scowl of disapproval.

"Oh c'mon. I'm not gonna' get drunk off a beer," he argued, annoyed.

"You better not, we leave first thing tomorrow morning," she snapped back.

"Why not just leave tonight? Aren't we against the clock?" Troy asked.

"We need to lay low. With the curfew in a place and a building burning down, the first thing they'll be looking for is a vehicle rushing away" she answered, before turning her gaze to Ryan, "So… let's take this opportunity for us all to get some rest."

"Great, I call the driver's seat," Ryan said before walking over to the front of the RV. She shook her head in disapproval before crawling into one of the empty beds and pulling the curtain closed behind her. Ryan plopped down in the driver's seat and leaned the seat back. Troy looked at the remaining bed and looked back at Ryan who kicked his feet up over the steering wheel. Troy dropped his bag by the open bed and took the passenger seat.

"Quite the night huh?" Troy spoke, trying to spark conversation.

"Yeah… quite the night," Ryan replied before taking another sip.

Before either of them could say another word, they heard a helicopter come into view. Seconds later, a searchlight appeared, flooding the RV park in front of them as it flew towards the destroyed building.

"How many people do you think we killed tonight?" Ryan asked.

"No idea," he said with a sigh, "Dozens probably."

"And you're okay with that?"

"They would've done the same to us, Ryan. We have to protect ourselves."

"You don't know that."

"Ryan, people like them murdered Delsin and Fetch."

Ryan shook his head.

"Look, these people need to understand what we can do, only then will they come to respect us."

"No, they'll come to fear us," Ryan countered.

"If that's what it takes," Troy added before leaning back in his seat as well, "We have these powers, what's the point of not using them?"

"We can use them. We just have to make sure to do so responsibly," Ryan countered.

"Not this again," Ryan said with a sigh before taking a larger sip.

"C'mon Ryan, we're wasting our time here. All we need is a few blast cores and I'm sure you can do it."

"It's too risky," he said after another sip, nearly finishing the bottle.

"Cole did it, why can't you do it too?"

"First of all, I didn't want him to go back in time. Second of all, I'm not going back in time because I don't wanna fuck things up more than they already are."

"I think that's pretty hard to do at this point," Troy argued.

"You'd be surprised," Ryan said just before finishing the bottle.

Troy took a deep breath and pulled his seat back up with him in it.

"Well… I suppose I should get some sleep too," Troy stated before standing up and walking away towards the other bed. He took a single step before looking back at Ryan.

"Good night, Ryan," Troy stated before turning off the lights and climbing into the remaining bed. Ryan sighed and placed the empty beer bottle on the floor by his seat.

He stared through the window at the stars that shone just above the trees, padding the top of his chest until he gripped a small sliver of metal that hung around his neck through his t-shirt. He tightly closed his eyes and concentrated. However, his mind wandered and he couldn't focus on a single thought. He quickly opened his eyes and released his grip. He then placed his hands behind his head as his eyes quickly focused on the stars again. After a few moments, the tiredness began settling in and he shut his eyes once more.


	4. CHAPTER 3 - A Molten Heart

**Chapter 3 - A Molten Heart**

* * *

4 Years Ago

* * *

"Whoa! Great one Wyatt!" he called out to the young kid.

"Mr. Haven! Mr. Haven! Look at me!" another kid called out as he successfully stayed on his surfboard while going over a small wave.

"Good job Jonathon!" he shouted with a thumbs up.

"Hey Troy," his girlfriend announced, walking towards him on the beach.

"Hey, Miranda," he greeted, kissing her.

"How are the kids doing?" she asked, gripping his arm.

"Wyatt's done some crazy stuff, and I finally got Cassie to actually get in the water."

She chuckled.

"And what about you? How are you doing?" she asked.

"I've never been better. Moving to Hawaii was the best idea ever."

"See? And it only took 7 months," she said with a chuckle.

"Yep, you were right. Happy now?" he asked with a smirk.

"Always," she said as she rested her head on his shoulder, now hugging his arm.

"Still on for dinner at 7?" Troy asked.

"Of course."

"Can't wait," he said while planting another kiss.

"Well, I need to grab a few things from the store. I'll see you back at home," she said just before leaving, lingering on his arm a little longer than she meant to. He couldn't help but smile as she walked away.

"Uh, Mr. Haven! A little help here?"

He was pulled away to the sight of a little girl struggling to take off her life jacket. He sighed.

"Don't worry Kristen, I'm coming."

The rest of the day continued on as usual. As a surfing instructor, Troy met with the young children of the island of Maui everyday after school to teach them how to surf. For the first few lessons, their parents stayed and watched. They said they were there to help support their children. However, as the weeks passed by, they would stop showing up, leaving them fully in Troy's care. They knew how good Troy was with his students and how much they loved him. They knew they could trust him.

As his lesson came to a close, parents of the children began showing up to pick them up. One by one, they arrived on the beach to pick them up. Eventually, the last kid was picked up and their parents thanked Troy. When they left, he packed up the surfboards and lifejackets into a storage unit and looked at his phone to check the time.

"With an hour to spare," Troy said to himself.

He then placed his phone back into his pocket and hopped into his car. During his drive home, he thought about Miranda and the night they had planned. Tonight was their third anniversary and Troy had something very special to celebrate the occasion. He reached into the glove box on the passenger side, and grabbed a small fuzzy box. He looked down for a second to look at the box and smile. When his eyes returned to the road, he realized he was driving through a red light into an intersection and was t-boned by another vehicle. The resulting collision threw him out of the vehicle and onto the concrete. He rolled for several feet, scraping his body on the rough concrete, until stopping on his back. Several people came up to him and were shocked to see it was Troy.

"Troy? Troy! You okay?!" one man asked.

Troy looked towards car that hit him.

"Is… are they… okay?" Troy asked, referring to the other vehicle.

"They're fine! We need to get you to a hospital!" he said.

Troy tried sitting up, a sharp pain emanating from his leg as he did. That's when he looked down and saw that there was a sizable metal splinter in his leg.

"Oh god!" Troy exclaimed.

"Listen, it's going to be okay," the man comforted.

"It hurts!" Troy said through gritted teeth.

Seconds later, the ground began to rumble and quake.

"Wha- what's happening?" the man asked as he took a few steps back.

The quaking intensified until, moments later, a geyser of molten lava broke through the concrete ground of the intersection, followed by another, and then another. People began to panic and scatter as the disaster took place. Troy screamed out in pain and a fourth geyser erupted just below his feet. All four geysers shot directly into the sky, with small droplets of lava falling onto the ground around Troy. The man who went to check on him had ran a ways away and saw some of the drops fall onto Troy.

Then the remaining crowd of people cringed and looked away when they saw the geysers change their flow to converge onto Troy. Troy held up his hands in a futile attempt to stop the fatal substance. The initial impact elicited shrieks from the passerby. Then, after a few seconds, the lava retreated; flowing away from Troy and back underneath the ground. When it was over, the crowd immediately grew quiet.

They all looked towards Troy, fully expecting there to be nothing left of him. However, they were greeted with the exact opposite. When Troy opened his eyes, the first thing he did was stand up to look around. He saw the crowd of people that were gathered. He then looked at his hands. The previously scraped flesh was gone, replaced by skin that looked like it had never seen trauma. He then realized that he wasn't in pain anymore.

He stood up and examined the rest of him. He looked at his torn clothing and couldn't find a single scratch. He was dumbfounded. He thought for sure he was dead but somehow… he wasn't. He locked eyes with the man who first ran to him. However, it wasn't joy or relief he saw, it was fear. That's when Troy made the connection.

"Wait… this… this isn't what it looks like," Troy pleaded.

"You're… you're one of them," he exclaimed.

"No wait," he pleaded once again as approached the man.

The man stepped back as Troy walked towards him and he stopped.

He then tried approaching a lady who stepped just the same.

He began to panic and the ground started to quake again. The crowd scattered again and Troy saw one man pull out his cell phone. He had to get out of here.

The quaking started to settle down and Ryan saw an empty car with the keys still in the ignition. He ran to the car, turned the keys and drove away. He drove until he made it home. He ditched the car a few blocks away and hastily knocked on the door to his home. His girlfriend opened the door with a smile which very quickly turned into a look of concern when she saw Troy's state.

"Oh my god! What happened to y-"

He pushed himself inside, out of breath.

"Troy?"

He looked up at her.

"Listen, I-"

"Troy! Your hands!" she exclaimed.

He looked down to see that his hands were glowing and exuding heat.

"Are you… ? No… no it can't be!"

"Miranda! Listen to me!"

"You're a bio-terrorist?" she asked in disbelief.

"No.. I'm… I'm not one of those… I would never hurt you."

"Oh my god…" she whispered as she walked backwards towards the door.

"No please," he pleaded, his attention being drawn between both his hands and his girlfriend.

Just outside, the rising sound of sirens marked the arrival of the police. He stared longingly at Miranda as a single word escaped his lips.

"Please…" he whispered, tears rolling down his cheek.

She subtly shook her head as tears began flooding her eyes as well. She then ran outside as police cars and trucks swarmed the neighborhood.

"There! He's in there!" Miranda shouted.

Police all left their vehicles and had their weapons focused on the single point of entry.

"The DUP is on its way!" a megaphone boomed, "Come out with your hands where we can see them."

Feeling alone and betrayed, Troy didn't know what to do. He was scared.

"You have five seconds to leave this building or we _will_ open fire!" the megaphone boomed again.

"Five!"

_I could've taken them._

"Four!"

_I should've taken them._

"Three!"

_But I was scared. Scared of hurting them._

"Two!"

_I'll never let fear stop me again._

"One!"

He walked out slowly with his hands above his head. He felt a dart hit the side of his neck and fell to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Present

* * *

A quick series of bumps jolted Troy awake. He looked through blurry eyes to see that he was still in one of the trailer beds with the curtain closed. He leaned up against his arms and was greeted by another quick series of bumps. That's when he realized they were moving. He pulled the curtain back and was faced by Ryan who sat on the other bed.

"Hey, you're up," Ryan said rather matter-of-factly.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Near the edge of New York, about an hour away from the target," Celia answered from the driver's seat.

He nodded and turned back to face Ryan.

"Did _you_ get any sleep?"

"Nope," he said while looking down at his feet

"Still thinking about last night?" Troy asked.

"This isn't what I wanted," Ryan said after a moment of silence.

"None of us wanted this Ryan. But… it's what the world gave us. It's a bitch."

"That's not what Delsin thought."

"Well maybe if he did, he would still be here," Troy countered, raising his voice slightly.

Ryan's brow furrowed at his comment. Troy paused to look away before readdressing him.

"There was a time that I wanted nothing more than to help other people, even if it meant going out of my way," he began, "But there's one thing you need to know. People, by their very nature, are self-driven. You can… you can save their life... but don't expect them to do so much as help you carry something… or save yours."

"So why do all this then? Why help her?" Ryan whispered.

"Cuz I know that if we help her, she'll help us."

Ryan sighed and shook his head.

"You _still_ don't trust her? It's been months now," Troy asked.

"I don't know _who_ to trust anymore."

"Well you trust _me_, right?"

"Yeah," Ryan replied after a pause.

"I would take a bullet for you Ryan... you _and_ Celia. You _have_ to realize that."

"You know that a bullet doesn't mean anything to us, right?" Ryan challenged, a small smile forming on his face.

"You know what I mean you dick," Troy snapped playfully.

It wasn't much longer until the trio reached their next destination. Every border checkpoint across the country was equipped with scanning stations designed to catch and detain conduits. To remedy this, the group would have to resort to crossing state lines illegally.

"Alright, we're here," Celia announced.

"Where _is_ here?" Troy asked.

"Tappan," Celia announced as she parked the RV in a large shopping center, "This is about as close to the border as we can get.

"We're ditching this, and crossing on foot," Ryan added.

"On foot? What about the drones that are flyin' around twenty-four-seven?" Troy asked.

"They don't have drones in the sewers," Ryan stated as he packed his bag.

"You're kidding…"

"It's the only way to get into New Jersey without attracting attention," Celia argued while packing her own bag, "Now, get ready."

Minutes later, the group left the RV and headed towards a back alley. There, they came across a manhole cover. The three of them worked together to lift the cover out of its slot and climbed down the ladder, one-by-one. They then slid the cover back into the slot and Celia pulled a paper map from her backpack.

"Huh… so this is what a sewer smells like," Troy commented.

"Not a problem, is it?" Ryan challenged.

"No actually, this is what my car would smell like with wet water gear sitting in it for a while."

"Light," Celia commanded.

Ryan pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and let its light onto the paper map.

"Where to?" Ryan asked.

After a few moments of analyzing, she got her bearings.

"This way," she answered, taking the lead.

"Do we have a plan for when we get to the weapon?" Troy asked, "You guys seemed to have planned a lot while I was out."

"Not yet," Ryan answered.

"I'll scope the warehouse and we'll go from there," Celia answered, not looking away from the map.

"Like I said, not yet," Ryan repeated.

After a few twists and turns through the sewer system, they came across something none of them were expecting. As Celia turned a corner she immediately stepped back, running into the other two conduits. Up ahead, a squad of armed guards were stationed with lights and barricades. All three peeked around the corner for a brief second before turning back to discuss.

"Well, you were right about one thing," Troy began, getting the attention of the other conduits, "There aren't any drones down here."

"I counted six, all armed with assault weapons and heavy body armor," Celia noted.

"Any way your paper can penetrate that?" Ryan whispered.

"No, and no exposed skin to hit either."

"I can take care of them," Troy spoke, igniting his hand, gaining Ryan's attention.

"Wouldn't recommend that. Not only is it loud, but you'd more than likely bring whatever's on top of us down."

"Ryan's right. We'll have to kill them discreetly," Celia concurred.

"Any ideas?" Troy asked.

"I disarm them. Then Ryan blinks in and incapacitates them," she suggested.

"All of them?" Ryan asked.

"Is that a problem?" she challenged.

"No," Ryan said with a sigh.

"Good," she replied while conjuring six ribbons of paper from her backpack. She then turned around the corner where she was immediately spotted. Before they had time to fully draw their weapons, each sliver of paper flew towards its target. Each one latched onto the assault rifle and yanked the weapon out of each of the guards' grasp. When each weapon fell to the ground between the two groups, Ryan blinked in and behind one of the armed soldiers' where he promptly snapped his neck.

He fell to the ground as another soldier unholstered a handgun. Ryan saw this and blinked into the soldier's arm, dislocating his soldier. Ryan then quickly turned and elbowed his face before punching him to the ground. Two more soldiers unholstered their secondaries but were quickly subdued by Celia. Paper ribbons wrapped around their hands and were dragged towards the other two conduits. They landed face-up and Troy knelt down and placed molten-encased hands on their masked faces. Ryan turned around and saw Troy force his palms into the heads of the two soldiers, seemingly stuck in a trance. Meanwhile one of the two remaining soldiers pressed a finger to his helmet, no doubt seeking help.

"Ryan!" Celia shouted, breaking him out of his trance.

He immediately turned back around and, with all his might, punched the soldier, breaking his mask in the process as he fell to the ground. The last one took a few steps back, realizing the situation he was in. He immediately took his gun out of his holster and threw it into the dirty water. Afterwards, he threw his hands into the air in surrender. Ryan could hear the man hyperventilating. He was truthfully terrified.

"Ryan…" Celia edged.

Ryan refused to budge.

"Ryan…" she repeated.

Still nothing.

"Ryan!"

As if on instinct, he punched this man just as he did the last, causing him to fall unconscious. Ryan then messaged his wrists for a second before looking back at Celia in disdain. After she elicited a sigh, Ryan's gaze shifted to the two bodies that laid by Troy, what was left of their skulls still smoldering.

"Are you going to finish the job or should I?" Celia asked impatiently. He shifted his attention back towards Celia and simply stared at her for a few seconds. He then continued walking down the path they were heading, ignoring Celia's question. Troy ran after him and Celia sighed in disappointment as she exposed the necks of each unconscious soldier just enough for her to slit them open and let them bleed out.

The remainder of the walk underground held complete silence as the group refused to talk to each other. However, thanks to Celia's navigation skills the trio made its way into New Jersey. They arrived in a small town not far from Hoboken. It was within their reach now. They calmly walked down the streets towards their target, getting weird glances from people as they came within range of their smell.

"This has to be it," Celia announced, coming to a stop at a large abandoned-looking department store.

"Building 2010… this is it," Ryan concurred.

"Alright, get your earpieces ready," Celia commanded as she slid hers into her ear. When it was firmly in place, the trio walked behind the building so that they were out of sight. Then Celia took out several pieces of paper and reformed her mask, though she still wore her casual clothes. She let her backpack fall to the floor and transformed into ribbons of paper that flew into a nearby vent.

"And now we wait," Troy said with a sigh as the two put on their earpieces.

Inside the ventilation system, Celia carefully traversed until she reached an area big enough for her to reform. In a bright flash of light, her physical form appeared inside the vent. The sudden weight caused the small tunnel to settle slightly. However, the noise below was enough to muffle the noise she was making.

"I'm in, standby," Celia whispered. She then crawled forward, looking for some sort of way to see below. Eventually, she came across a vented opening that looked directly down and she was able to catch a glimpse of the operation. She saw several computers set up on cheep-looking tables and a rather large group of people walking around. Off in the distance, something caught her eye, though she couldn't quite make it out from her angle. She decided to keep moving to get a closer look.

Meanwhile, Ryan and Troy sat against the wall outside, waiting to hear from Celia. However, Ryan couldn't stop thinking about the battle in the sewer, the image of the soldiers' melted faces playing again and again in his head. He turned off his earpiece and turned to Troy. He quickly tapped the button on his earpiece, turning it off and getting his attention.

"What the… what are you doing?" Troy asked while removing the piece to readjust it.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Uh… sure?"

"Do you think we _had_ to kill those guys in the sewer?" Ryan asked.

"If we wanted to get past them, yeah," Troy answered, "I've told you, it's them or us. It always has been and it always will be."

Ryan looked down at the ground.

Inside the building, Celia finally made her way to another opening where she could see the area that was previously blocked off. From her grated view, it looked like around a quarter of the overall area was surrounded by plexiglass. Inside the enclosure, small rocks and stone shrapnel littered the area.

"Next subject!" she heard a man call out. Moments later, she saw a man being escorted by two individuals. The man had a gag over his mouth and power-dampening restraints around his hands. They walked him towards the center of the area where the stone shrapnel was the most prevalent. His restraints were hooked up to a magnetic stand that held him in place. That's when Celia noticed what was in front of him. Just a few feet away, was a spherical object, about the size of a basketball resting on another stand. Two ends were cut out and transformed into handles and a large circular hole was cut into the center.

"I think I have visual on the weapon," Celia whispered, expecting to hear a response but getting nothing.

"Guys?"

Meanwhile, Ryan looked back up to readdress Troy.

"Is it true that you actually saved someone?" Ryan asked.

"Hmm?"

"Back at the RV, you made a comment about saving someone and them not returning the favor. That true?" Ryan clarified.

"Yeah... back home I was a surfing instructor. I taught both kids and adults how to surf. One of my older students got injured during a session. A nasty wave threw him against the reef and he fell unconscious. So I swam out there, and pulled him back to shore."

"Was he okay?"

"Doctors were able to bring him back no problem. But other than that one trip to the hospital, I never saw him again… until I… got my powers."

"What do you mean?"

"He was the first one to find me right after I got my powers, checked to see if I was okay," Troy explained.

"So he did return the favor."

"No. As soon as he discovered I had powers, he left me there… to die."

"It was one time, Troy."

"They're all like that, Ryan. Even when people try to act good, they're really only doing it to make themselves feel better and… I think I felt the same before… I never really cared about my students. I just did it so I could feel better sleeping at night, I feel like we have to be good, when the truth is we're not."

"Red Wolf! Blue Dragon! Come in!" Celia whispered furiously, "Where are you?"

"Stations clear! Running test in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…!"

In an instant, a blue beam shot out of the weapon for a second and struck the captured conduit. The initial impact didn't seem to do anything. The man staggered back slightly, but that was it. He appeared relieved at first, but seconds later he began screaming, muffled by the gag over his mouth. From Celia's view, she could see the man's body begin to morph. Several large spikes began forming under his skin until suddenly, the skin tore open.

Large concrete spikes shot out through his skin all over his body, ripping through his clothes. They appeared all over him, his torso, his legs, even his arms, with the skin surrounding each spike solidifing. Eventually, spikes shot out through his head, and he started banging it against the magnetic post that held him in place. The rest of his head began to solidify as well until one final spike shot out of his mouth, tearing his jaws apart. His entire body started quaking until finally, he was torn apart in a concrete explosion. In the aftermath, Celia saw no sign of the man, not even the concrete shrapnel had a semblance that it was once a human.

"Team! Come in! They've just fired the weapon! It turns conduits to stone!" she whispered again, "Team! Come! In!"

"Troy, whatever happens it's important to know-"

Ryan was cut off by the sound of a large black truck coming into view. They saw it drive around the building and heard it stop by the front. The two looked at each other for a moment before turning their ear pieces back on.

"White Rabbit! Come in!" Ryan called.

"What happened! Where were you!" she snapped back.

"Listen, you may have company," Ryan stated, ignoring her question.

"What?" she asked in disbelief, only to have the main doors burst open.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" shouted a man through a strong African accent, "Thank you very much for your service but everything in this building is now forfeit… to me."

"Who the hell are you?" another man asked as Celia wisped through the vents to get a closer look at the man.

"My name is Kamau Amadi," he answered as Celia finally got in view of the man as well as his entourage.

"What do you see?" Ryan asked.

Celia didn't respond as she focused on a young woman about her age standing in front of the large man. Immediately behind her stood two soldiers whose faces were masked. They wore very light body armor and had no weapons. But Celia recognized the girl almost immediately, even through the dark blue pantsuit-like attire she was wearing..

"Jessica?"

"What? Jessica is here?" Troy asked out of shock.

"Well I'm sorry Mr. Amadi, but uh… this research isn't available for purchase right now," a nerdy looking man replied.

"Oh young man, I have no intentions of buying your weapon, I seek to take it… peacefully."

"I'm sorry but… that isn't going to happen."

He chuckled.

"Very well then, Ms. Ferris?" he gestured to Jessica. She held out her right hand towards the soldier on her right and he released a pure white beam from his hands that seared through the complex, destroying much of the computer equipment as well as disintegrating all of the men inside. The explosion drew the attention of the two conduits still outside.

"White Rabbit, do we engage?" Ryan exclaimed.

The right hand soldier then ceased his fire and held both hands upwards, where the light from every single light bulb was drained and absorbed by the soldier. The room was left in near darkness for only moments before that was also, somehow, drained away and absorbed by the other soldier, leaving the building in an unnatural glow.

"It's them," Celia finally spoke.

"What?"

"It's Ashton Pryce and Sebastian Wong."

Ryan and Troy traded dumbfounded looks with one another.

"Get us in there!" Ryan ordered.

"On it," Troy replied while running to the wall.

"I'm going after the weapon," Celia whispered before wisping through the hole in the vent and reformed right next to the weapon. The sudden movement drew their attention.

"Celia?" Jessica asked, puzzled.

The far side wall turned red with heat before a hole large enough for the two other conduits to enter was created. Troy held molten fists at eye-level while Ryan pulled his shotgun out of his backpack and cocked it. Jessica turned to face the other two conduits.

"So… you have a new crew now?" she asked mockingly as she turned back to face Celia through the plexiglass guarding the test area. Without a word, Celia detached the weapon and held it under her arm as she tried running away. However, before she could take a single step, Jessica sent a wave of red energy through the glass that hit Celia, knocking her off balance. She dropped the weapon and Jessica started walking towards it as Ryan shot his first round towards Jessica. A few of the pellets hit Jessica and she staggered. However, her fast healing kicked in and red streams of energy snaked around to mend the wounds.

"Take care of them," Jessica ordered her soldiers as she resumed her path towards Celia. They ran towards Ryan and Troy who stood their ground.

"Take it, we don't wanna kill em?" Troy shouted.

"That a problem?" Ryan asked.

"Not this time," Troy remarked.

Meanwhile, Jessica climbed into the enclosure through a small hole that Ashton had made with his light beam and walked towards the weapon. She picked it up with ease as Celia struggled to get up.

"What… what did you do to me?" Celia asked, trying to find the strength to get up.

"I just told your brain that you're tired. Right now, it's sending signals across your body that's shutting down all muscle function," Jessica explained as she picked up the weapon. Celia looked up at Jessica and watched as she brushed down her suit and realized that she was wearing some sort of electrical collar.

"So… he's controlling you then," Celia inferred.

"Better than being controlled by you," she commented.

"You… are better than this."

"I'm better than you, and that's all that matters. I'm not afraid of you anymore."

She started walking away when she caught a glimpse of the other battle. Ryan was locked in combat with Ash while Troy was busy with Sebastian.

"This isn't working," Troy called to Ryan, pulling up a small wall of magma to block a blast from Sebastian, "I can't keep this up."

"Just hang in there," Ryan said while squaring Ash in the chest with a shotgun blast. Ash was quickening his attacks on Ryan until he eventually switched to light-encased fisted that started to pummel Ryan. They maneuvered around until Ryan had his back turned towards Jessica and Mr. Amadi. Ryan was forced to drop his shotgun and fall to his knees, holding up a shield to lessen the assault. Troy went to help but was quickly blasted away by Ash. Troy sent a wave of molten cinders at Sebastian who tried attacking again. As the cinders left his hand however, he felt that all-too-familiar sensation. He was empty. He needed to recharge.

"Here's the weapon, sir," Jessica spoke, handing Mr. Amadi the weapon

"Good work, Ms. Ferris," he said, firmly grasping the handles, "Finally, this so-called war will end before it truly begins."

His attention was drawn to the group fighting and saw that Ryan was within view.

"Perhaps we ought to test this weapon to see if it is indeed as capable as the tests claim?" he said with a grin. Jessica changed her expression immediately to one that nearly read concern.

After Troy blasted Sebastian, he noticed Mr. Amadi wielding the weapon, as well as his target. Mr. Amadi pulled the trigger and a blue beam left the spherical weapon. In a split second, Troy bolted for Ryan. He ran right in front of Ryan and the beam struck him square in the back. The impact sent him off his feet and Ryan saw him tumble behind Ash.

"Troy!" Ryan shouted.

The sudden commotion caused Ash to let up and Ryan used this opportunity to push Ash off of him. He blinked over to help Troy to his feet.

"Troy! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little… hot," Troy answered.

"Hot?" Ryan asked, puzzled. That's when he realized that his skin was warm to the touch and growing warmer. He reeled his hand back as the heat overwhelmed him. Troy fell back down onto his hands and knees. His hands appeared to be melting and mold into the floor.

"Wha- what's happening?" Ryan exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Mr. Amadi was preparing the weapon to be fired again, aiming once again for Ryan. As he drew the weapon, Jessica quickly swapped glimpses between Ryan and the weapon. She then ran to Mr. Amadi's side.

"Sir!" she exclaimed, grabbing his attention, "The police are likely on their way. We should go!"

He took a second to process her suggestion before nodding in agreement.

"Grab them and let's go," he ordered.

She nodded in understanding and waved her hands towards Ash and Sebastian. They took that movement as a command to follow and immediately retreated. Ryan turned away for a second to watch as they fled the scene, leaving just the three of them left. He turned back to see Troy's skin turn a bright red.

"It hurts! It hurts!" Troy screamed. Ryan once again tried to put his hand on his shoulder, but he was only inches away from contact and could still feel the immense heat emanating from him. He took a step back and watched as his friend's skin appear to liquify.

"Oh my god!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Ryan!" he shouted through gritted teeth, "Run!"

Ryan was powerless as he shook his head.

"Run!" Troy shouted again as his hair burned away.

No reaction.

"Ruuuunnnnn!" Troy shouted again as his entire body began convulsing. Finally, Ryan came to his senses and looked towards Celia, lying motionless on the ground. He then made one final look at Troy.

"I'm sorry," he whispered before blinking away towards Celia. As soon as he was able to pull Celia's motionless body up, Troy's body erupted in molten explosion. Molten lava flew towards them and Ryan threw a time bomb to catch it mid-air before it had the chance to hit them. However, other smaller spurts managed to hit the ceiling supports for the ventilation and a chunk of it started falling. Ryan looked up just in time for it to crash down on the two of them, rendering them both unconscious.


	5. CHAPTER 4 - Plus One

**Chapter 4 - Plus One**

* * *

9 Years Ago

* * *

It was a typical Saturday morning. Ryan was in the living room. He laid flat on his stomach with his eyes glued to the television screen in front of him. The child was still in his pajamas, and his teeth were yet to be brushed. He had gotten up early to watch his favorite cartoon. It was about a little boy who got super powers and would help the innocent. When the show first started, about a year ago, he would get up early and watch it with his mother. Having her leave was the hardest thing for Ryan, but watching the show almost made him forget about his mother in the army. It made him feel safe.

"Hey kiddo," his father called out as he walked into the living room in his pajamas, "Is that Photon Kid?"

"Uh huh," Ryan replied, his eyes not leaving the screen.

"Cool," he replied while taking a seat in the recliner, "What's happened so far?"

"Photon Kid just found out that his father is secretly Gamma Man and that it was his machine that gave Photon Kid his powers."

"His father's Gamma Man?"

"Yeah, it's getting good."

"You know what would make this even better?" his father asked

"What?" Ryan asked, tearing his eyes away to look at his father.

"Waffles. Want some?"

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll be right back," he said just before standing back up and walking into the kitchen, leaving Ryan to turn back to his show.

About fifteen minutes later, he came back with two plates, a large waffle on each one. He placed one plate on the floor next to his son and stadown in the recliner with the other one. The two of them then proceeded to eat their breakfast and watch TV. Eventually the show went to commercial and Ryan left to brush his teeth. Shortly after Ryan left, his father heard the doorbell ring and got up to answer it. He walked over to the door and slowly opened it. He was greeted by a man and a woman in brown uniforms donning various badges and medals on their jackets.

"Are you Jack Hill?" the man asked.

"Yes," he responded, his heart beating fast.

"I have been asked to inform you that your wife, Lisa has been reported dead overseas at 1300 hours on May third, two thousand and six."

"What? No… no…"

"She died by an artillery shell while attempting to rescue a downed soldier. Neither of them made it," he continued, causing Jack to erupt in tears.

"On behalf of the Secretary of Defense, I extend to you and your family my deepest sympathy in your great loss."

The three of them heard the sound of something small hitting the floor. Jack turned around to find his son on the verge of tears as well.

"Mom's… dead?"

* * *

Present

* * *

Minutes after being knocked unconscious, Ryan awoke with heavy breathing. He pushed the collapsed ventilation tubing off of him and attempted to stand. When he put pressure on his left leg however, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his calf. He looked to see where the pain emanated from and found a concrete shard sticking through his jeans. He took a sharp breath and yanked out the shrapnel. He felt a brief surge of pain, but it subsided almost immediately as the wound began to close on it's own, denoted by a faint blue light at the source. Seconds later, all that was left was a hole in his jeans. He then looked back to find Celia lying on the ground.

"Celia, can you stand up?"

"I think so," she said as she attempted to support herself with her hands and knees. Once there, Ryan helped her to her feet. However, her sluggishness forced her weight against Ryan's. On instinct, she placed her hand on his chest to support herself. When she did, she felt two small thin slivers of metal resting underneath his shirt.

"We need to get out of here," Ryan stated.  
She pulled her attention away from Ryan and looked around the crumbling building.

"We can get out through the hole you went through, less people," Celia suggested.

Ryan nodded and the two started heading for the exit, Celia supported by Ryan. Once they were out of the building and back into the alleyway, they brushed themselves off. Celia found the strength to walk on her own and the two fled the scene just as emergency vehicles arrived. They found themselves in a secluded corner of a park and they collapsed under a tree.

"He's gone… Troy's gone…" Ryan spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"We have to find them," Celia thought aloud, ignoring Ryan's comment.

"What?"

"Not only does he have the weapon, he has three conduits under his command."

"Celia… Troy's dead."

"I'm aware of that," she acknowledged.

"And you don't care?"

"Ryan," she started while standing up, "We don't have time to sit around and grieve."

"So he's just another casualty to you?"

"He was a soldier, Ryan. He knew what he signed up for. Now, are you gonna just sit there or are you gonna' help me track down Mr. Amadi?"

There was a long moment of silence until Ryan finally stood up and looked down on the shorter Celia.

"I'm done," he said finally before turning around to walk away.

"So that's it? You're giving up?" she called back.

"We got our asses handed to us!" he snapped back, "And now Troy's gone."

"And his death will be for nothing unless you help me track down the man who killed him."

Ryan stopped and stood in place, not moving.

"If you leave, where will you go? Back to hiding? Is that anyway to live?"

"Better that than watching others die," Ryan replied, still looking away from Celia. She took a few steps forward and sighed. Ryan attempted to start walking away again, but he only got in one step before he was interrupted.

"What would Delsin do?"

"I don't know," he replied while turning around and taking a step towards Celia, "Cuz in case you weren't aware, he's dead too. Who else has to die for you to realize what you're getting into?"

"Delsin wouldn't just sit around and do nothing."

Ryan chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm not Delsin," he said before turning back and walking away.

There was a moment of silence as Ryan refused to look back.

"Who do the tags belong to?" Celia asked.

He stopped for a second before turning around and looking sternly at Celia. He sighed and dug into his shirt to pull them out. He looked at them for a brief second before letting them fall back onto the outside of his shirt.

"They belonged to my mother."

"Why wear them? Afraid you'll forget her?"

He sighed as he lifted them up with two fingers and examined the tags.

"No… it's so that she never leaves me again," he explained as he tucked the tags back under his shirt.

Celia took a few steps forward, her eyes focused on Ryan's.

"We need to stop Mr. Amadi," she repeated.

"How? Ash kept me pinned the entire time and Jessica took you out with a wave of her hand."

She scowled at the comment.

"If we're gonna stand a chance, we're gonna need help," Ryan added, caving in.

She took a few steps back and turned around.

"This weapon… it turned the test subjects to stone and it turned Troy to…" she started before looking back to Ryan, "It seems like it… overloaded his powers. If that's true... then that means the others must've been concrete conduits."

"D.U.P.?" Ryan suggested.

"Most likely… and I'm willing to bet that more of them are being kept somewhere here in town."

"Well how do we find them?"

"Follow me," she whispered while motioning him to follow.

They left the park and walked down the street, with Celia looking near the bottom of the buildings they passed.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked.

"Looking for a wall outlet, she answered, just before coming across a charging station built into a table outside a coffee shop.

"Why?"

Celia placed her backpack onto an open chair and pulled out, what looked like, a cell phone and a charger.

"Charging your phone?" he asked, confused.

"Just need to give it a jump and we can go," she said as she hooked up the device to the station. After a few minutes, she was satisfied and the two left and continued down the street until they reached an alley.

Celia then proceeded to type away on the device.

"This," she started, not looking away as she spoke, "Is a tracking device."

"The same one you used to find me and Troy?"

"Just Troy, you don't have a chip."

"What?"

She turned the device around so that Ryan could see the screen on it.

"Every D.U.P. soldier and Curdun Cay prisoner was fitted with a microchip in their neck. Augustine had this to keep track of everyone with a chip."

He looked at the screen and saw a small red dot on a map right next to a pair of coordinates. Underneath the coordinates, there was an identification number and a name: Jack Warden.

"One tracker to find conduits, and another to keep tabs on them?"

"Exactly… this person isn't that far, we need to find them," she said before placing the device back into her backpack and beginning to leave the alley.

"So that night you found us… you were just looking for Troy," he inferred.

She stopped just short of leaving the alleyway.

"Yes… I looked up Troy's chip number and sought him out. You were just his plus one."

"That's all I am to you? What if I was the one who died? Would you even bat an eye?"

She sighed.

"I don't regret taking you on Ryan."

She turned around.

"I know how you feel about me, but right now we don't need to see eye-to-eye. We just need to watch each other's backs."

"And how do I know you're watching mine?"

"You're still here. You're still alive. Surely, that has to count for something?" she said before turning around and walking out of the alleyway. Ryan ran after her and the two went to the coordinates on Celia's tracker. It was about a ten-minute walk until they arrived at their destination, an apartment complex. They calmly went inside and walked around the complex, tracker in hand, until they were on top of their target.

The two of them looked at each other before looking back at the door in front of them. The room number was painted on in black over the brown door, with a peephole centered near the top. Celia stepped forward, confidently knocked on the door, and stepped back. A few moments passed until the door swung inwards, and they were greeted by a tall cauacasian man, a few inches taller than Ryan, in a plain grey t-shirt and sweatpants. His hair was short and black with the slightest hint of grey showing. His beard was cut short but scruffy. He looked to be in his early to mid forties.

"Jack Warden?" Celia assumed.

"Who's asking?" he asked, his voice sounding dry and scruffy.

"You don't know who we are but we're-"

"Your identification number is A211." Celia interjected, cutting off Ryan.

"What is this about?" he asked, his posture shifting slightly.

"We know what you are and we need your help."

"Did someone send you?" he asked, his tone inquisitive.

"No, we-"

"Then I'm not interested," he interrupted, going back inside and closing the door.

"Well then," Celia whispered frustratingly.

"Try again, I think he likes you," Ryan mocked.

Celia gave him a stern look before knocking on the door again.

"Go away!" he called from inside.

"At least hear us out," Ryan called back.

"Go. Away."

The two conduits traded looks with one another. Celia shook her head and fished a slip of paper from her pocket. It folded onto itself until it took on the form of her typical dove.

"What are you doing?" Ryan whispered.

"If he's not gonna help us, then he's against us," she whispered back.

"What?"

"He's seen what we look like. We can see about finding someone else to help us. But if he won't help us, we have to take care of him," she explained before going to knock on the door using the hand not holding the dove.

Ryan grabbed her hand before she had a chance to knock and held it in place. She gave him another stern look and Ryan looked back at the door.

"Your friends went missing, right?" he asked, trying to get the agent's attention.

No response.

"We know what happened to them," he said, seconds later.

No response.

Celia shook her hand free of Ryan's grasp, drawing his attention back to her. She sighed heavily before going back to knock again. However, she was interrupted again; this time by the agent opening the door. He simply stood there and looked at the young conduits sternly. He sighed.

"Come on in before someone sees you," he gestured, causing the two conduits to comply. He closed the door firmly and turned around.

"How did you find me? Was it the chip?"

"Yes," Celia answered after a brief pause.

"They told us that they were deactivated."

"You were lied to. The higher-ups wanted to keep tabs on everyone, even after they left," she explained.

"Higher-ups? What do you know about the DUP?"

Ryan looked at Celia.

"More than you might realize."

"Is that why you're here? Did someone hire you to bring me in?" he asked.

"No."

"We're here to stop a weapon," Ryan added.

"A weapon? What kind?"

"The kind that can kill conduits," Ryan answered.

"And you've… seen this weapon?"

"Yes," he said as he looked at Celia for a second before turning back to Jack, "We saw it used on other… concrete conduits."

He nodded his head in understanding.

"If you tracked me down… can you find others?" he asked.

Ryan looked at Celia again.

"I'll need names," she said eventually as she pulled the tracker out of her backpack. Once it was out and turned on, she gestured for him to give names.

"Nathan Zimmer?"

There was a brief pause as she typed the name in.

"Unavailable."

"Tobias Marin?"

Another brief pause.

"Unavailable."

"Walker Hogan?"

Another pause.

"Unavailable. None of the identification numbers are showing up, which means their chips were damaged."

"Shit…" he whispered before walking to the small kitchen area.

"He can't be the only one, can he? There has to be others still out there," Ryan suggested.

"His is the only one in the area, all the others are several states over," Celia explained.

"And those three lived in this very apartment complex," he said as he pulled a beer out of his fridge and popped the cap off using the edge of the kitchen counter.

"We know who's responsible," Ryan added.

"Good for you," he said before taking a drink.

"You… don't want to avenge your friends?" Ryan asked.

"Why bother? It's not like it's gonna bring them back."

"You seem to be taking this surprisingly well," Ryan inferred.

"Look… they've been missing for months now. I assumed the worst a long time ago. This is just confirmation," he explained while walking back over to plop down on the couch.

"He killed a friend of ours… and I would like to make sure he pays for it."

"I'm sorry to hear that, truly… but word of advice kid: don't invest in revenge. It's not worth it."

"You're afraid," Celia inferred.

"Of course I am. Everyone's afraid of something," he said before taking another sip.

"I'm not," she countered, eliciting a chuckle from Jack.

"Then you're either an idiot… or you're lying."

"Please. We need more firepower if we're gonna stand a chance," Ryan pleaded.

He chuckled again.

"Not interested."

There was a brief pause before Celia spoke up.

"What if we were to go out there and tell everyone what you are?" she threatened.

"Tell them what? That I was an agent of the D.U.P. dedicated to stopping bio-terrorists like you from roaming the streets?"

"How did you know?" Celia asked.

"The tracker? 'Higher-ups'? Either you're the youngest agent I've ever seen… or you two are conduits who managed to steal that thing."

"We're not with the D.U.P.," Celia snapped.

"Then who are you?" he asked.

There was a brief pause and Celia looked dead-on at Jack.

"My name," she started, "is Celia Penderghast."

"Okay?" he said, slightly confused at her manner before addressing Ryan, "You're turn."

"Do you not know who I am?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Should I?"

"I was the first prisoner of Curdun Cay," she explained, slightly offended.

"Really? Cuz I heard she killed herself."

Ryan faced Celia at the comment.

"Heard?" Celia reiterated.

"I was never stationed at Curdun Cay.," he explained, "It was a rumor that spread around."

Her dumbfounded expression remained.

"So you what… ran away and stole some gear?" he asked just before taking another sip.

"Something like that," Celia responded, changing her expression to one that was more serious.

"Look, time isn't exactly on our side. So if you're not gonna' help us, we're gonna leave," Ryan butted in, turning towards the door.

"Wait," Jack called, causing the conduit to stop.

"You realize I can't just let you leave, right? As far as I'm concerned, you're fugitives."

"We haven't done anything," Ryan protested.

"Oh yeah?" Jack challenged while turning on the television. On it, was a news story regarding the explosion at the department building.

"Cuz I'm willing to bet that you two are somehow involved with that."

"That was the building your friends were being kept in," Ryan explained.

"And who blew it up?" Jack asked.

"A man named Kamau Amadi," Ryan answered.

"Amadi? Are you serious?" Jack asked, his brow lowered.

"Do you know him?" Celia asked.

"He's a military contractor. He was looking to buy D.U.P. soldiers from Augustine when the department was still in its infancy," he explained.

"He's the one with this weapon," Ryan answered after a brief pause.

"Shit," he muttered to himself just before getting off the couch and walking to the window in his living room.

"From what I heard," he began after a moment of silence, "He's a bio-terrorist fanatic. He dreams of having an army of them."

"All the more reason to stop him."

"Do you even know where to find him?"

"Not where, but we do know how," Celia answered.

Jack sighed heavily and clenched his fist.

"Fine," he said after a moment of silence.

"You'll help us?" Ryan asked.

"On two conditions," he said before turning around to face them, "One: we turn him in, and we turn in the conduits he has working with him."

"The second we hand over conduits to the authorities, they'll execute them," Ryan argued.

"Done," Celia interjected.

"What?" Ryan asked, shocked.

"What's your other condition?" she asked, ignoring Ryan.

Jack looked the two conduits up and down before stepping closer to them.

"Take a goddamn shower," he said before turning to walk in the other direction.


	6. CHAPTER 5 - Hubris

**A/N - I feel like it's been a while since I've said anything. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe despite recent events. Here's the next chapter in the story, however I also added a significant bit to the previous chapter and I highly recommend going back to reading that before continuing with this one. I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Hubris**

* * *

12 Years Ago

* * *

"Whoa! That looks so good, Celia!"

"Thanks Sarah, I've been working on it all day," the young child said enthusiastically.

Sarah looked over the younger girl's shoulder as the two of them sat on the bench. Celia held a drawing pad on her lap and was putting the finishing touches on one of her new favorite characters to draw: a female anthropomorphic rabbit donning a hooded robe with holes cut for the ears.

"Figured out a name for her yet?" Sarah asked.

"No, I was hoping you could help me come up with-"

Celia was interrupted by a kickball flying in and hitting her square in the face, causing her drawing pad to fall to the ground.

"Owww!" she cried as she put her hands up to her nose.

Sarah was pulled out of their conversation and drawn back into the world they resided in. They sat down on a bench against the wall outside of the main dormitory building of the orphanage. In front of them was the courtyard that contained a few small sandboxes, a tetherball court as well as a soccer ball and a kickball. Sarah eyed the group of kids responsible, a small group of boys about her age. They were laughing.

"That's not funny!" Sarah yelled back, standing up from the bench.

She took a step forward but was immediately stopped by a hand grabbing her wrist. She turned around to see Celia holding on to her with one hand while shielding her face with the other.

"Don't," she said through muffled tears.

"What's going on here?" shouted a voice from a distance. Everyone looked to see a caretaker approach them. The bullies quickly ran away as she walked up to the bench.

"Mrs. Beck, they're picking on us again," Sarah explained.

The caretaker sighed before looking at Celia. The young girl felt her gaze and shielded her face more.

"I'll talk to them again, but it also might help for _you_ to try talking to them. All you two is sit here and draw. Maybe you should think about spending time with some of the other kids?"

"But we're happy like this," Sarah retaliated, causing Celia to nod in agreement.

"You may not understand this now, but social interaction is very important for girls your age."

"But we don't want to," Sarah explained.

The caretaker sighed again.

"Okay… but there will be a time when you will," she said softly before leaving to talk to the other group of kids.

When she was gone, Sarah sat back down on the bench. Celia relinquished her hands from her face and Sarah looked at it closely. As expected, her eyes were red from the tears but she was perfectly fine otherwise.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked.

Celia nodded as she brushed away some of the remaining tears.

"Thank you for not hitting them."

"What?" Sarah asked, surprised at the comment.

"You," she started in between sniffles, "You were gonna hit them right?"

Sarah sighed and then nodded.

"I… I didn't want you to get in trouble again," Celia explained.

Sarah smiled and hugged Celia who promptly returned it. When the two released, Celia bent down to pick up the notepad and brush off the dirt from the ground. She closed it and placed it flat on her lap.

"I hope we get adopted by the same people," Celia thought aloud while looking at the other kids playing.

Sarah kept her smile as she looked back at the younger girl by side, the one that, after years of spending time with each other, she learned to call her little sister. Her complexion was very fair and her raven-black hair rested on her shoulders. Her, now cloudy, blue eyes reeked of innocence. A few pairs of parents took interest in her, but none of the adoptions were successful, as she refused to leave without Sarah, and they weren't looking to adopt two children.

"I promise Celia… we will… together."

* * *

Present

* * *

With the young conduits showered and Jack properly dressed, the three of them left his apartment. Jack wore cargo pants with a concealed handgun on his right-hand side. On his torso, a thin kevlar undershirt clung tightly, hidden by a light brown leather jacket. His black hair was combed, though it did nothing to hide the grey highlights. The three started walking in a seemingly ambiguous direction with Celia leading the way, tracker in hand.

"So, how do we find him?" Jack asked, slightly condescending.

"We track down the conduits he's with," Ryan inferred.

"Correct. If we can find Ashton and Sebastian, we find Amadi," Celia confirmed, still looking at her device.

"Right," he started, prying for information, "What kind of abilities are we dealing with?"

"Mind manipulation, light manipulation, and dark manipulation," Celia answered.

"Mind manipulation? Light? Dark?" Jack questioned, "Bio-terrorists can only alter matter."

"Specifically, Jessica manipulates the neurons firing in your brain. Depending on where she strikes, she can cause paralysis, hallucinations, even go as far as to take control of all motor functions," Celia explained.

"He's using her to keep the other two conduits under his command," Ryan added.

"Then why doesn't she just use her powers on him?" Jack asked.

"Her powers only work on conduits. They don't affect anyone without the conduit gene," Celia answered, "As for the others... you've heard of dark _matter_, right?"

Jack nodded, and Celia said no more.

He looked at her slightly puzzled for a few moments, and Ryan caught the emotion. Ryan then took a few seconds to look around him. Despite walking for the duration of their conversation, their surroundings looked nearly identical to when they started. The city was bland and the sky above them was gray. Every now and then a gentle breeze would make itself known as the day slowly began transitioning to early evening.

"Where are we headed?" Ryan asked after a few more moments of silence.

"North," Celia answered, pocketing the device, "It shouldn't take long."

Seconds later, the trio was interrupted by the sound of a police siren. They looked to the road from the sidewalk and saw a police car driving slowly. The officer inside positioned a walkie-talkie in front of his face.

"Attention Citizens!" the officer boomed through a speaker on the roof of his car, "Due to recent events a curfew is being put into place starting today. All citizens will have approximately one hour to return to their homes. Households will be notified of the curfew's exhaustion as soon as possible."

He repeated the message as he continued driving down the street.

"Looks like we're against the clock now," Ryan sighed.

"C'mon, we need to hurry," Celia urged, causing the three of them to start running. Fifteen minutes later, the three of them came across a two-story building on the corner of an intersection. A quick draw of the tracker confirmed that they were indeed in that building. She then threw the tracker back into her bag and grabbed two earpieces from it.

"Alright missy, what's the plan?" Jack asked.

She said nothing as she tossed one of the earpieces to Ryan.

"You had extras?" he asked just before plugging it into his ear.

She once again said nothing as she whisked herself away into the ventilation system as a ribbon of paper. Jack futilly rushed forward, annoyed that he didn't get an answer.

"Do _you_ know the plan?" he asked Ryan.

"She goes in and looks around, we wait here," he said nonchalantly.

"And that works?" he asked out of disbelief.

"It didn't last time," he said with a sigh.

Just as before, once Celia felt there was enough room for her to reform, she did, the ventilation creaking slightly under the new weight. The vents were dark, as there were no nearby opeings for light to seep through. All she could do was push forward. However, unbeknownst to her, Amadi's office was just below where she reformed, and he craned his neck when he heard the settling coming from above. He kept his ears peeled as a quiet but rhythmic series of thuds began. A small smile snaked across his face. He stood up from the chair behind his desk and walked towards the opposite wall, towards a thermostat.

"Celia? What do you see?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing yet… I'm still looking for an opening," she replied, just before a loud humming erupted from the vents.

"What's that?" Ryan asked.

"Just the air conditioning, I think," she replied collectively. However, as the air hit her, she very quickly realized that she was wrong. The air was warm, and getting warmer.

"Someone turned on the heater," she corrected.

Seconds later, the metal she crawled on grew warm to the touch. She kept crawling, despite the discomfort. However, when she was hit with another blast of warm air, she began to realize what was happening.

"I think they know I'm here," Celia reported, the metal growing ever hotter.

"Then you need to get out of there," Ryan urged.

The air current was growing stronger, and Celia started sweating. The temperature was getting unbearable, it wouldn't be much longer until she burned her hands on the hot metal, she had to move, and fast. In a quick attempt to evacuate, she transformed into a paper ribbon and attempted to fly back from where she came. However, the current dragged her forward instead. She quickly traversed along the straightaway of the vents until she came across an opening. The current forced her through and out. She reformed just as she hit the ground, causing her to land on her side.

As she steadied herself, she was greeted by a closed door just in front of her. Just above, she saw the vent blowing dust and particles out of it. She stood up and dusted herself off.

"What are _you_ doing here?" asked a man, weakly.

She quickly turned around, ready to strike. However, she was greeted by a young man wearing light body armor and sunglasses. His hair was white and caked with dirt and sweat, and his hands were bound in conduit restraints. He was sitting up in a small bed just barely big enough for him.

"Ashton Pryce," she spoke aloud.

She then took a second to realize that the two of them were in a locked room, the room itself containing only two things, the bed, and a camera on the opposite corner of said bed. She sighed when her eyes focused on the camera.

"Shit," she muttered.

"Celia, what's wrong?" Ryan asked.

Before she had a chance to respond, the door opened and Jessica appeared. Celia turned around in time to have Jessica send a wave of red energy hurtling towards her. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Celia? Celia! Are you alright?" he asked, hearing the thud.

Jessica heard the comms device and placed the earpiece to her own ear.

"Hello Ryan," she spoke devilishly

"Jessica? Where's Celia?" he nearly shouted.

"IDon't worry about her Ryan. She's about to get exactly what she deserves," she said with a slight chuckle.

"We can help you," Ryan tried.

"It's too late Ryan… for both of us. If I were you, I would run and never look back."

"Jessica, don't," he pleaded.

"Goodbye Ryan… and thank you... for giving me the courage to do this," she said just before throwing the earpiece to the ground and stomping on it.

Ryan was left there, completely stunned.

"Kid fill me in, what's happening?" Jack asked.

"She's captured," he answered, not looking away from the building.

Jack sighed heavily, his gaze not leaving Ryan. The younger conduit started stepping forward before having his arm grabbed by Jack.

"Let go of me!" he shouted.

"We can't just barge in there," he reasoned.

"She needs our help!"

"If you're right and there's some mind-controlling conduit in there, what makes you think you'll stand a chance?"

He tried to shrug off Jack's grip, but failed.

"If we go in there, all that happens is that Amadi gets more soldiers for his private army. We can't take them on… not alone."

Ryan looked sternly at Jack before looking back at the building Celia disappeared into.

"We need to regroup," Jack reinforced, letting go of Ryan's arm.

With a final look, he headed in the opposite direction, running towards where they came. Jack did the same; looking at the home of Amadi just before chasing after Ryan.

The two ran for some time, trying to make it back to Jack's apartment. However, as they were running down the street, a helicopter flew overhead. The two thought nothing of it until it circled around and started hoving over the duo.

"They found us!" Ryan shouted.

"This way!" Jack called back, leading the two of them down an alleyway. They ran through and onto the other side, buying little time. They then swapped direction, running away from their original objective.

"That should give us a bit!" Jack called.

However, as soon as he did, they were greeted by a second helicopter that zoomed into view. Jack saw a gatling gun just beneath the cockpit, and it was spinning.

"Take cover!"

They quickly scattered as the weapon began dispersing its contents. Ryan was able to blink into another alley, but Jack was pinned behind a parked car. Bullets riddled the glass windows and and was making short work of the rest of the car. As the gun continued, Jack's eye caught something. He looked down at the ground where the shattered glass collected. We expected to see excess shrapnel or bullets, however, what he saw were black beads.

"Jack! Over here!" Ryan called.

He looked over at the young conduit, took a deep breath, and went for it. He pressed his hand against the concrete and pulled it up, grabbing a large chunk of it. He positioned it so that it covered his entire body and he moved towards Ryan, using the concrete slab as cover. Once he was within the alley, he let go of the slab and slid into place right next to Ryan.

"This is a dead end!" Jack called. Moments later, the original helicopter came back into view. It appeared just in front of the dead-end alley, forcing the two conduits to back up against the wall. However, instead of opening fire, the helicopter let down a rope and, seconds later, an armored figure slid down it. His armor was clung to his body very tightly and was black with with white bands travelling from the shoulders down the arms to the wrists. The armored figure approached the two of them and Jack pulled out his 9mm. pointing it directly at him.

The figure held his right hand behind him and the aforementioned black beads flew to it, forming a gauntlet with a large spike-pauldron that was as tall as his head. Jack took a shot and the figure held his arm in front of him and the beads positioned themselves to form a rectangular shield that absorbed the bullets. The figure ran towards Jack as he kept firing. Eventually, he put his hand to the ground and used the concrete to launch himself into the air and over the man. He then attempted to shoot from behind. He shot once, twice, and three times, every shot bouncing off the armor. The beads turned into a whip that knocked the gun out of Jack's hand.

Before the man could do anything else, Ryan threw a time bomb, causing him to stop, nearly dead in his tracks. Ryan then used this opportunity to pull the shotgun out of his backpack. With a quick cock of the weapon, he shot twice into the time bubble. The pellets were held in place until Ryan made the orb dissipate. When he did, the figure was launched backwards by the shotgun blasts, the beads falling off him in the process.

He was forced against the wall and Ryan ran towards him. As he did, the figure held out his hand and lifted it upwards, causing the beads that were scattered around Ryan's feet to lift upwards. The man then clenched his fist and they wrapped themselves around Ryan's hands and forced them together, causing him to drop the shotgun. The figure got up and walked up to Ryan. Before he could do anything else, he was greeted by a bullet to the head. However, it simply bounced off, though the impact caused him to flinch. He looked back to find Jack wielding the 9mm. He looked at the wrist of the clenched fist and tapped away using his free hand. He then quickly unclenched his hand, the beads unmoving. He ran towards Jack.

He fired two more shots at the man before placing his hand onto the ground and prepping another launch. However, the figure saw the movement and managed to land a blow to his head with a fist before he could take off. He crumpled to the ground. Behind the figure, Ryan came running up and jumped into the air to dropkick the figure. However, Ryan immediately regretted the action as he landed on the side, vulnerable. The figure picked Ryan up by the collar of his shirt and punched him in the face several times, until he was eventually knocked out.

Jack stood back up and charged the figure. However, he held his hand out again after tapping his wrist and the beads flew away from Ryan and around Jack's feet, effectively tying them together. He then tripped and fell forward on his face. The figure then took a second to walk around Jack before turning him over using his foot.

"Who are you?" Jack grunted.

He was met with a kick to the face that knocked him unconscious.

When it was done, muffled breathing could be heard coming from the mysterious figure. He looked at the two conduits laying at his feet before bringing his wrist up to his mouth and speaking into it.

"Looks like you were right. It _was_ him."

"Who's he with?"

"Some D.U.P. foot soldier."

"Interesting… let's get them out of here before authorities arrive."


	7. CHAPTER 6 - A Sour Reunion

**Chapter 6 - A Sour Reunion**

* * *

8 Years Ago

* * *

"Vitals are normal. Power transfer successful."

"Good… what about the boy?"

"Scanning… he has a slightly elevated heart rate, but normal otherwise."

"Good… recycle the machine and get ready for another transfer in one hour."

"Sir, I… permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"He's just a kid. We've given his powers to ten conduits already today. Perhaps we should wait until tomorrow to continue."

"We're running low on time. Recycle the machine and prepare for the next transfer."

Silence hung in the air like a plague. He completely lost track of the time: minutes, hours, days… they all blurred together. The only semblance that time was even passing was the occasional jolts he would get. He would be rudely disrupted by a series of flashing lights, loud noises, screams, and the feeling that something was sucking his energy from him. He felt as though he ran for miles and miles without rest to only stop for a second before continuing onward for several more miles. He felt… tired.

He felt as though he was on the cusp of falling into a deep sleep just before being interrupted. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep… and see her again… see them both again. Just the thought was enough to wake him from his hazy limbo. With shaky eye-lids he "awoke". As his gaze returned to him, so did his panic. His breathing grew heavy and ragid. He whisked his head around only to find that he was in the same nightmare that he fell asleep to. He was in a poorly lit room, though if that were due to the lack of physical lighting or his own vision, he didn't know.

His arms and legs were numb, a result of being suspended in the air by the machine he was trapped in. Both his wrists and ankles held him in place. He tried to wiggle his fingers, and found that the sensation almost felt foreign to him. Eventually, the panic began to subside, and his breathing slowed. He was trapped… and there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to cry… more than anything else. But everytime he felt pushed to… he heard his mother's voice in the back of his mind. It soothed him… gave him hope. And with this surge of energy, he would push back the tears, he would push back the fear.

"Ah… awake at last I see," spoke a voice from the darkness.

But the fear always pushed back.

A woman emerged from the darkness. She was pale with short, raven-black, hair that was tucked underneath a small hooded jacket. The jacket torso was jet-black and the attached hood was blood-red. Her chest bore nothing else, the jacket showing what little decency there was. He couldn't see her bottom half, at least not at a distance.

Once she drew closer, he noticed that her legs were coated in tar, which blended in with the ambient darkness. He also saw her eyes as she stood over him. They were an unnatural shade of red and, even more so, were glowing. She leaned in slightly so that she could see him face-to-face.

"Poor thing," she said in a voice he didn't recognize, "You look so tired."

He refused to respond.

"You may not understand this now," she said while bringing her hand to his cheek, "But what you're doing here… is truly wonderful."

His breathing quickened once again.

"You're helping us create the family I've always wanted," she said with a sadistic smile.

She then stepped back, slowly dragging her hand away from his face. She turned and walked to his right, and his eyes followed. She drew attention to something that was initially invisible to him. She stared at the other half of the machine he was trapped in. As he followed her movements, he saw that there was another… cage… just like his. Her hand trailed along the hand restraints; starting at a wrist strap and ending at the frame it was connected to.

"I wonder," she started, her eyes focused back on the strap, "If _I _can get your powers…"

Her eyes went back to him and his heart froze, her smile growing.

"Sasha," a deep voice boomed from the darkness, one he _was_ familiar with.

This one, as he left the shadows, was dressed in a dirty hooded robe, once completely white. Underneath that, he saw a chestplate with six, faintly glowing, blue lights. However, what was most eye-catching was his right arm. It was gone, and replaced with a robotic one.

"Kessler," she said peppily, walking up to him. Standing side by side, he could see that she was significantly shorter than he was. She looked up to him and held his cheeks in her hands.

"Is it time, darling?" she asked.

"Just about… you should get ready," he answered, grabbing one of her hands and cupping it in his.

"Anything for you," she said with another smile. She then waved at their prisoner before disappearing back into the darkness. Kessler stepped toward the boy and knelt down. He stared longingly at the child. His darker skin was caked in dirt and his short black hair was matted. His eyes were red and heavy bags hung underneath them.

"I understand why you hate me now, Ryan… why you didn't want me to go back," he spoke after standing back up. Ryan was confused. He had no idea who this man was or what he was talking about.

"You have every right to, kid. If I didn't think I had to… I wouldn't have."

"I… I don't know who you are," Ryan said sheepishly.

"You will, kid."

Kessler then started walking away into the darkness. However, once he was at the passing point, he stopped.

"Things _will_ get better… I promise. You just have to be strong."

And with that, he took another step forward and disappeared.

Ryan was once again alone.

* * *

Present

* * *

He awoke with a start. He looked down to see that his hands were bound. He was flat on his back, laying on a small, and rather uncomfortable, bed. He looked to his left and saw tall vertical bars… prison bars. He quickly sat up, his head scanning the area. Beyond the bars, he saw a hallway with another cell at the other end. Inside, Jack laid down, asleep. He then ran up to the bars and leaned forward as much as he could.

"Jack?" he called out, "Jack… can you hear me?"

No response.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?" Jack muttered.

He then slowly sat up and let his eyes adjust to the light. He tried bringing his hands to his face but was jolted away from his slow recovery by the restraints that kept them bound.

"Shit," he spoke, realizing the situation, "Where are we?"

"No idea… just some normal prison it looks like," Ryan answered.

Seconds later, a door opened. Ryan looked to where the sound originated from. At one end of the hallway, he heard footsteps. They started quiet but quickly grew louder, until the person making them was standing in the hallway between Jack and Ryan: the man that captured them, still donning the same armor. Ryan's expression quickly turned sour.

"Who are you? Where are we?"

The man said nothing as he opened one of his fists, revealing a key. He put it to Ryan's cell door and unlocked it. The door opened outwards, and the man gestured for him to come out.

"Whoa whoa! What's going on here?"Jack asked.

The man turned around for a brief second and looked Jack over. He had a similar concerned expression on his face. The man turned back around and once again gestured for Ryan to leave. After a few seconds of consideration, Ryan followed and the two walked down the hallway towards the door the men entered through. As they walked down the hall, he noticed that all the other cells were empty, he and Jack were the only prisoners. Once they reached the door, the man opened it and stepped aside, allowing Ryan full view of what lied beyond.

It was an interrogation room, not too dissimilar to ones commonly seen in movies. There was a single desk, two chairs, and a large mirror that Ryan assumed to be a one-way window, right next to another door. He walked in slowly and the man walked in after, closing the door behind him. Seeing nothing else to do, Ryan took a seat facing the mirror. The man then took the opposite seat. Ryan stared intently at his captor, waiting for him to make the first move.

"You look tired, Ryan," the man spoke, in a voice that was familiar to Ryan.

"Sam?" Ryan whispered.

He removed his shaded helmet and placed it on the table next to him. Underneath, was Sam. His normally clean-shaven face now sported a beard, and his hair was slightly longer, but it was definitely him.

"Oh my god… it really _is_ you," Ryan said with a sigh.

"Nice to see you again," he said with a small smile.

"Look… I'm sorry I left," Ryan began, "Had I known what was going to happen, I would've-"

"Ryan," Sam interrupted, "You don't have to apologize."

Ryan inhaled deeply.

"So... is it just you?"

Sam sighed and looked at the mirror. He quickly nodded at it and looked back at Ryan. Seconds later, the nearby door opened and a woman walked through: Alex. She kept her normal blue suit, but her long hair was tied in a ponytail.

"Hello Ryan," Alex said sheepishly.

"Hi…"

"Sam's right," she began, "I was the one who kicked you and Troy out."

"Except you didn't… not me at least," Ryan corrected.

"We were surprised to see that Troy wasn't with you," Sam added.

"That's because he's dead," Ryan replied coldly.

Sam sighed deeply and Alex put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Ryan I'm… I'm sorry to hear-"

"Don't… what's done is done," Ryan spoke, interrupting Sam.

"What are you even doing here? What's with the suit?" Ryan asked.

Sam and Alex traded glances with each other before referring back to Ryan.

"We're here on assignment," Sam answered.

"With the First Sons?"

"No… the N.S.A."

Ryan sighed heavily and shut his eyes for a few seconds.

"That explains the cuffs," Ryan thought aloud.

"We were sent in as soon as we heard about the store explosion," Sam explained.

"Why prolong it then? If you were sent in to kill us, why not do it?"

"You're not why we're here," Alex butted in.

"We have a reason to believe there's some powerful machine in town."

"Machine? You mean the weapon?" Ryan asked.

"Weapon? Is that what it is?" Sam inquired.

"Yes, and I know where it is."

"Then tell us," Sam commanded.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. If you want to get there, you'll need me to take you there," he bargained.

"We can't do that, Ryan," Sam replied.

"Fine… you won't get your weapon then."

"Ryan please, if you're right and it falls into the wrong hands, this can end horribly. You have to understand that."

"Then take me with you. You won't stand a chance by yourselves."

"Why? What else is out there? What aren't you telling us?" Sam asked out of suspicion.

Ryan leaned back in his chair, his expression a mixture of fear and anger.

"Celia's there," he muttered.

"Celia?" Alex repeated.

"And Jessica… and Ashton and Sebastian," he added.

"They're alive?" Alex asked out of shock.

"And with Celia?" Sam added.

"Not quite," Ryan began.

He relayed to them everything that happened within the last 24 hours. He told them about the testing center, about Troy's sacrifice, and Amadi's private army. As the words left Ryan's mouth, the story was sounding more and more ridiculous, even to Ryan. However, Sam and Alex knew he was telling the truth. His body language was calm and his eyes were easy to follow; not exactly signs of a common liar.

"So you and Troy were working with her?" Sam asked.

"For the past six months, yeah."

"Why? Why her? After all she's done?"

"She found us and… she asked for our help," Ryan answered truthfully.

"That's it? You just… followed around and did what she told you?" Sam spoke, slightly raising his voice.

"I wasn't exactly in a spot to say no," he defended.

"Do you know what she did?" Sam asked, slightly angrier.

"I know what she's done."

"No! Do you _know_ what she did?" Sam practically shouted while standing up and leaning over the table, "Mark! Lynne! Sarah! They're dead because of her! _She_ killed them Ryan!"

Despite the sudden outrage, Ryan sat perfectly still. His short hair sat unbothered on his head. He said nothing… nothing as he stared back up at Sam, his expression the complete opposite of Ryan's. After an agonizingly long minute, Sam sat back down in his chair and took a deep breath.

"If you want to scour through the city trying to find her, you can try. But as soon as Amadi gets wind of what's happening, he'll leave. He'll go somewhere we _can't _find him. So unless you want _that_ to happen… bring me with you."

"What will you do if we find Celia… and the weapon?" Sam asked, now slightly more collected.

"We'll run," he said honestly, "Once the weapon is destroyed, we have no reason to stay here."

"Ryan… We. Can't. Let. Her. Go."

"Why do you care so much about stopping us? You're a conduit too," Ryan reasoned.

"Not anymore…"

"What do you mean?"

"I lost my powers. I was deactivated."

"How?"

"Long story," he said in a tone that told Ryan to drop the topic.

"Alright then, if we're done here I would like to go back to my cell."

"Fine." Sam said hesitantly before standing up. Ryan followed his lead and the two made the arduous journey back to Ryan's cell. He walked in without another word and Sam closed the door behind him and locked it. He then walked back through the same door and slammed it shut, the noise echoing down the hallway. Ryan sat back down on the bed.

"You two got History?" Jack asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Ryan asked, looking over at the older conduit.

"It's pretty rare for complete strangers to yell at each other that early in a conversation," Jack observed.

Ryan chuckled painfully.

"He wants to kill her," he explained.

"Because she's a conduit?" he assumed.

"Yeah.. but it's… more than that."

"Kinda figured as much. She doesn't seem like the kind of girl you'd bring home to mom."

Ryan chuckled again, looking down at his restraints.

"Were you actually going to turn us in?" Ryan asked.

Jack sighed.

"To tell you the truth… yeah. It _was_ a little… disconcerting… how easily she went along with the idea."

"It should be… she would've killed you if you tried turning us in," he said sternly as he looked back at Jack.

"Maybe I _should've_ killed her. All those nights she was fast asleep… it would've been easy."

"Then why didn't you?"

There was a considerable pause.

"I don't know."

"Do you think she _deserves_ that?"

"I don't think anyone deserves that," he said, looking back down at his restraints, "She also didn't have the best people to look up to."

"Then what _does _she deserve?"

Ryan sighed.

"I don't know," he answered, looking back at him.

Seconds later, they heard the door open once again and a helmetless Sam appeared in front of Ryan alongside Alex.

"Are you sure you can take us there?" Sam asked the young conduit.

"_We_ can," Ryan assured.

Sam turned around to look at Jack before looking back at Ryan.

"Fine."


	8. CHAPTER 7 - Mind Over Matter

**A/N - I hope everyone is alive and well during these circumstances. It's been a crazy couple of months, but here's the next installment. And now that classes are out for me, I will hopefully go back to uploading on a schedule again.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Mind Over Matter**

* * *

10 Years Ago

* * *

They started laughing… that was always a good sign. Every question they asked sparked a meaningful conversation to the young girl. She was always shy, especially to the other kids, but there was something about this couple that she connected with. She felt comfortable around them.

"So Sarah, what other hobbies do you have?" the husband asked.

With a smile, she pulled her small sketchbook from her back pocket and flipped to a random page.

"This is what I like to do when I'm bored," she said while handing them her notebook.

The wife took the book from the young girl and gazed at the sketches. The page she was one showed a landscape of the orphanage playground. The level of detail was incredible, and it was clear that it was all done in pencil. She added shading where it needed to be and neglected detail in areas that might otherwise be distracting.

"Wow! You drew this?" she asked, with the husband leaning in to look too.

"Yep!" she said proudly.

The couple proceeded to go through the sketchbook, finding all forms of drawings. Eventually, they stumbled upon a drawing of another young girl.

"Who is this?" the wife asked, showing her the picture.

"Oh that's-"

She froze. It was a picture of Celia. She was so caught up in their conversation that she completely forgot her one rule.

"That's a friend of mine," she answered sheepishly.

"Oh… is she here?" the lady asked.

There was a brief pause as Sarah had an inner panic attack. She was scared of telling them the truth. Celia was still here, and the two of them were the best of friends. Celia had gotten couples interested in her countless times, but they all declined because Celia refused to leave without Sarah. As for Sarah, this was the first time a couple showed any interest in her, and she really liked them. She couldn't mess this up. She couldn't turn them away by letting them think the two were together.

"No," she lied, "She got adopted a while ago."

"I see…" the wife said, sensing the child's discomfort, "Well I'm sure she's with a loving family."

Sarah nodded uneasily.

It was then the mother decided to try to change the topic.

"Well maybe you can tell us about some of these other drawings."

Almost immediately, Sarah felt better. Talking about her sketches with someone else felt so natural to her and this couple seemed so interested, attracted to the young girl's enthusiasm. They started smiling more and asking more questions, which eventually turned away from Sarah's art and into more casual topics like stories and experiences that they would all share with each other. She felt so comfortable with them. She felt at home.

Hours later, Celia was running back into the dorms, notepad in hand. She had recently completed a drawing using a shading technique that Sarah had taught her and she was dying to show her. It was recess and all the kids would normally be eating or outside playing. But she couldn't find Sarah. But knowing Sarah, if she wasn't sitting on the bench against the wall, she was sitting indoors. She turned the final hallway and ran into the dormitory with a large smile on her face.

"Sarah! Look what I-" she started before stopping dead in the doorway. She saw Sarah standing at the side of her bed with a partially-packed backpack. Sarah looked at the younger girl and her face became flush, as if she just got caught doing something overwhelmingly embarrassing.

"Sarah? What's going on?" Celia asked.

She then stepped forward until she was just feet away from her bed. Her eyes focused on the backpack, noticing that it consisted of various articles of clothing. Her eyes suddenly beamed with excitement.

"Are we getting adopted?" she asked excitedly, gripping her notepad even harder.

Sarah quickly looked away and resumed her packing, stuffing more shirts and socks in less-than-orderly fashion. Celia's expression quickly turned to confusion as she witnessed Sarah's almost-panicked state.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" she asked, new concern apparent in her voice.

Within seconds, Sarah was done packing. She zipped up her backpack and stopped. She placed her hands on the bed, one on either side of the backpack.

"I… I got adopted," Sarah whispered.

"You… what?"

"I got adopted," she said slightly louder.

"You mean? Wi… without me?"

"These people… are perfect… and… I'm so tired of living here," she said between scattered breaths.

"But… what about us? We said we were gonna' leave here together."

"This is the first time anybody has liked me and... I can't mess it up," she said before turning back to throw on her backpack. She then stepped towards a flabbergasted Celia. Her eyes now misty. As Sarah's own eyes fell into them, she immediately looked away and continued onward.

"But I like you," Celia reacted, causing Sarah to stop again and turn around.

"Please don't make this any harder than it needs to be."

"But you're making it harder for me! If you leave… I'll be all alone," she said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Celia… how many times have people come in and asked about you? If you go with the next family, you won't be here much longer."

"But _you're_ my family!" she shouted, tears now falling down her cheeks.

"Right?" she asked after a considerable pause.

Through her tear-riddled eyes, she saw Sarah's expression turning into something she had never seen before. It looked twisted and construed, as if she herself was confused as to what expression should be prevalent. But before Celia could say another word, Sarah ran up to Celia and embraced her, wrapping her arms around her and burrowing her face into Celia's neck. She simply held there for a few seconds. She then relinquished her grasp and stepped back. Celia then saw Sarah do something she had never done before: cry.

Instead of wiping her own tears however, Sarah took a thumb to Celia's cheek and wiped away hers.

"You'll always be my sister," she said, trying to keep the tears back, but failing.

"I'll never forget you," Sarah whispered before quickly leaving the room.

Celia froze, doing nothing but stare at the empty doorway.

* * *

Present

* * *

She felt groggy. Her breathing was heavy but still rhythmic. Her eyes were firmly shut as she came around. As she did, she tried to move, but couldn't. Celia forced her eyes open and looked down. She was sitting in a metal chair. Her arms were strapped to the armrest at the elbow and her hands came together within the confines of a conduit restraint. The resulting position forced her forearms uncomfortably close to her stomach. Looking further down past the restraint, she saw her legs bound with metal clamps to the front legs of the chair, which were bolted to the floor they rested on.

She pulled her head back up to think. With a few quick breaths she attempted to break free of the clamps holding her elbows in place, trying to use the restraint as leverage to pry her arms away. After a few moments with nothing to show, she stopped. She threw her head back again and took another breath, the sudden movement unsettling her raven hair. She looked around her and saw nothing but a small, empty white room; nothing beside the black door that sat out of place in front of her.

The silence was always unnerving to her, especially in times like this. The only sound she could hear was her own breathing. It was heavy and slowly growing scattered. It sickened her. While her mind was calm and collected, her body betrayed her. Her breathing, her rapid and sudden movements… they were signs of weakness. She closed her eyes and held her head high, focusing first on her breathing. Within seconds, it was back to normal. As a result her traitorous limbs also ceased their pointless struggle. She was in control… not the fear.

When she opened her eyes, she heard footsteps echoing from beyond the door in front of her. They grew louder and louder until they eventually stopped. A moment later, there was a sound like a key penetrating a lock and the door swung inward. Holding the door handle, was Jessica.

Celia did nothing but stare. She didn't move, didn't alter her breathing. She was in control. Jessica's normally long black hair was cut short, reaching down only to the base of her neck. Her bangs were neat and complemented her hazel eyes very well. Her skin was lighter than Celia's and her face had a few moles scattered about it. She was donning the same dark blue pantsuit she last saw her in. Both the jacket and pants were the same solid color, and her shoes were black like her hair. Jessica slowly closed the door behind her and approached Celia. She kneeled down so that they were face-to-face. She smiled.

"It feels… good," she started, "seeing you like this. It suits you."

There was no reaction from Celia. She did nothing but stare with a stern expression.

"You think you can scare me?" Jessica taunted before standing back up and walking around to get behind her.

"I could've killed you… then _and_ now."

"What's stopping you?" Celia challenged.

Jessica continued walking until she was standing in front of her again.

"I want you to join us," she whispered.

"Like Pryce and Wong?" she smacked.

"It doesn't have to be. You can be... your," she started before using her hand to push Celia's hair behind her ear, "regular self."

She kneeled back down.

"I was all alone just… wandering the streets after Delsin died. I had nothing… no money… no food. I used my powers to steal as I'm sure you had to."

There was no reaction from Celia.

"Eventually," she started, standing back up, "I drew attention to myself and… _he_ found me."

She walked back towards the door, turning her back on Celia.

"I was so scared at first, especially when he put _this_ thing on."

Celia looked towards the metal choker fastened firmly around her neck.

"I didn't know what he was planning on doing with me. Little did I know," she continued, pausing to turn around, "He was planning on teaching me."

"He's using you," Celia argued.

She chuckled.

"You don't think I know that?" she countered.

"He showed me Ashton and Sebastian… said he wanted me to 'teach' them to obey."

Celia's breathing began to quicken ever so slightly.

"He gave me a blast core and suddenly… I learned more about the mind than I ever thought possible," she said while holding one palm face up, allowing a glowing red mist to hover around it. She then took a step towards Celia.

"I learned how to manipulate conduits in ways I never thought possible."

Jessica kneeled down again and looked at the swirling red mist. She then flicked it at Celia and it was seemingly absorbed by her. She flinched at the sudden intrusion, Moments later, she felt something deep down, something… painful. Her head felt inflated, like it was going to explode. Her lungs felt compressed, causing her to gasp for breath, but surprising her when she could take in air without ease.

"The mind is a powerful instrument. Right now… it's telling your body that you're in pain," she explained while standing back up, "The pain center of your brain is lighting up. There is nothing wrong with you… but your brain doesn't know that."

The splitting headache started to spread across the rest of her body, taking the form of muscle soreness, bug stings, anything and everything she could imagine. It very quickly grew in intensity, and her stoic expression turned into one of anguish. She gritted her teeth to keep herself from grunting, all with Jessica watching. Seconds later, the simulated pain grew until it felt as if an incredible pressure was being applied to her right arm. She looked down but saw nothing. She forced her eyes shut, beginning to feel tears coming from them.

If she could close her jaw anymore she would've broken it. She felt every tendon in her arm, every muscle fiber. Then suddenly, the pain that was spread throughout her body began to diminish and focus on this singular point of contact. It moved from the socket of the arm to midway down her upper arm and stopped. Piece-by-piece, she felt her muscle being torn to shreds. At this point, she couldn't stop herself from grunting as tears rolled down her face. She bucked in her chair, trying somehow to escape the fate of her simulated dismemberment.

It wasn't a quick cut, but a twisting and pulling of the arm, so much that tears were formed in the muscle and fat that lied underneath the skin. Her grunts turned into screams when her arm was pulled away from her, tearing both flesh and bone at the midway point of her upper arm. She felt the last of her connected skin tear away, the feeling only minimal compared to everything else. As quickly as it began, it ended. The pain subsided and Celia was left panting and crying. Her hair and face were matted with sweat. She opened her eyes and stared at Jessica with blurry vision.

"Fuck you," she muttered through scattered breathing.

Jessica slowly moved to walk behind her once again.

"What is it you want Celia?" Jessica asked.

There was nothing but panting from the recently-traumatized conduit.

Jessica reached out her hand and placed it to the back of Celia's skull. Her hand started glowing red and she peered into her subconscious. Jessica closed her eyes and journeyed with Celia in reliving her personal thoughts and memories. They whizzed by rapidly… too fast to fully grasp them, but enough to piece together. She saw Celia stalking Delsin, murdering Augustine, and then killing Mark Sarah and Lynne at the cannery... and then there were her most recent endeavors. Each memory she had access to, she saw her true desires. With a quick exhale, she pulled her hand away and the rapidly moving images dissipated. Jessica opened her eyes.

"You say you want to be the most powerful conduit," she stated while walking back around towards Celia's front. Though the majority of her tears had run dry, her eyes were still red and watery. Jessica dropped to her knees.

"But we both know that's not true," she whispered, "You leapt to Augustine because of her power, her strength. She made you feel safe. When Delsin beated her, you killed her and leapt to him. And this pattern goes back… all the way to Sarah… doesn't it?"

Jessica put her hand to Celia's cheek.

"You're not trying to be the strongest conduit. You're trying to find the strongest conduit to protect you."

Celia's breathing slowed and Jessica's hand started to glow again.

"I'm not scared of you… and you don't have to be scared of me."

The glowing intensified and Celia couldn't help but succumb.

"The brain knows pain… but it also knows pleasure," she continued.

Celia breathing slowed to normal in a matter of seconds. She was graced with something warm, like crawling under warm bed sheets on a cold night after a long day. In an instant, she forgot all about the simulated pain she had just experienced. Instead, she was visiting a world that she hadn't seen in years. She felt happy.

"The question is… which will break you first? Pain… or pleasure?" she whispered. Involuntarily, Celia started to moan, as the pleasure started turning into something more… sensual. Jessica smiled.

"This is what you want… give in to it," she whispered, leaning in closer, "Stay with us and I can make you feel this way whenever you want."

Slight whimpers began to escape Celia's lips, as her fantasy played out in her mind. It was so real to her. Her eyes were glued shut, her mind lost. Jessica leaned in closer as Celia's panicked spasming completely subsided. Her nose was mere inches from Celia's and she could feel her captive's breath.

Celia was giving in, losing the unwinnable battle she was in. Second by second, her mind focused more on the scene that played out. However, as it did, she was slowly becoming more and more aware. With a sudden thought, she broke free.

"No!" she shouted, accidentally banging her head against Jessica's nose. Her captor reeled back from the impact, pulling her hand away from Celia's face as well. Jessica held her nose for a few seconds, though Celia did no damage, she still felt the need to check for blood. She then looked back at Celia, her relaxed expression defaulted to a scowl.

"Fine… pain it is then."


	9. SPECIAL THANKS

**Special Thanks**

If you submitted a character through "OC Emergency" or PM and was featured in this story it will be listed here. Authors will be included with the character below. I wish to thank you all for submitting your entries. NOTE: Characters are listed in order of appearance.

Author – Character

The Crystal Brick - Troy Haven

Deathstrider777 - Ashton Pryce

werewolf35 - Sebastian Wong

rmarcano321 - Sarah Skygge

SuperLombax - Mark Blade

Derekjay2000 - Lynne Keeleigh Hooper

* * *

If your pen name differs from what is listed above, please PM me and I will fix it ASAP.


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